


House of the Rising Sun

by ScotlandEvander



Series: Various States [25]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Clint Barton Is a Good Bro, F/M, Gen, M/M, Not Being Stupid, Smile Power, Strained Friendships, i have no clue how to tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-04-18 23:39:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 25,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14224335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScotlandEvander/pseuds/ScotlandEvander
Summary: Clint Barton wanted to go camping.Tony thought the Accords were a GREAT idea and didn't get why Steve was so against them.Steve was just done. With just about everything.All Sebastian wanted to do was bake some cookies.Here is the tale of how Clint didn't go camping, Tony signed the Accords, Steve became done with it all, and Sebastian didn't bake his cookies and wound up in another country altogether far, far away from his unbaked batter.





	1. All For Our Country

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, remember me? You don't? Well, there are a lot of other parts of this series to read before you read this one, but if you do remember, welcome back! I've been sitting on this story for a long, long time and now am finally feeling I can post. Anyhoo, enjoy.

**Disclaimer: If you know it, I do not own it. “House of the Rising Sun” is a folk song and from my research, no one knows who wrote the lyrics. Everything says Traditional. But, the version I know well is by the Animals and it claims to be arranged by Alan Price.**

* * *

_I’m growing tired of fighting / I’ve been drained and I can’t hide it / But, I have strength for you / You’re all that’s real anymore_

_-Muse, “Aftermath”_

* * *

“Aunt Peggy?”

Sharon Carter scrutinized the living room as she let herself in. Her call was met with silence, which wasn’t surprising, as Aunt Peggy tended to go to the pub in the afternoons. She closed the door, taking a few steps into the living room. She was about to go to the kitchen to start tea when the front door opened. 

“What are you doing here?”

“I needed to tell someone something and figured I should tell another spy,” Sharon said, stepping aside to let her great-aunt shuffle into the room.

“I was wondering where you’ve been since Sergeant Barnes went MIA,” Aunt Peggy mused, removing the plastic thing she always wore over her hair when she ventured outside. “So, where is he?”

Sharon didn’t question how Aunt Peggy knew exactly what Sharon’s assignment has been the past year. Aunt Peggy always knew. There was never a way to get away with anything with her, which had fascinated Sharon as a child and frustrated her cousins.

“Well, first he was in Anchorage, then he went off the grid for a month, and finally settled in Romania.”

Aunt Peggy made a confused face before she shuffled into the kitchen to start tea. Sharon followed.

“Whatever made him go to Romania?”

“No idea. He randomly appeared and allowed us to know where he was. We’d’ve never found him if he hadn’t let us know where he was,” Sharon admitted, getting down the teacups as her aunt put the kettle on the stove. “Then, six months ago, Jessica Witton showed up. I’ve been waiting for Steve to appear, but he’s still clueless.”

Aunt Peggy snorted. “Loki ever come home?”

“Honestly? I’ve got no idea. No one’s seen hide nor hair of him since he vanished almost two years ago.”

Aunt Peggy gave her a strange look before she flicked the gas on. “He’s fine, in case you’re wondering.”

“Seriously?” Sharon lamented, throwing her head back to stare at the ceiling. “He calls you, doesn’t he?”

“Only when he wants information about things I covered for SHIELD,” Aunt Peggy smiled, pulling a tin of tea out of the cupboard. “So, what did you come here to really tell me?”

“They’re getting antsy,” Sharon admitted, sitting down at the tiny table in the kitchen. “They want to bring Barnes in, but so far I’ve been able to hold them off. He’s done nothing to bring him in since he popped up in Bucharest. Since Witton showed up, he goes out more and he sells stuff at the farmer’s market on Friday.”

“What does he sell?”

“Cookies and cupcakes.”

Aunt Peggy looked baffled.

“What do you want to know, darling? I can’t tell you how to do your job. Or did you just need an ear removed from the situation?”

“Should I tell Steve where he is?”

“He doesn’t want Steve to know,” Aunt Peggy reminded her. “He’s let you know. Does he know who you are?”

“I think so. When they moved, I was placed next door.”

Peggy made a noise of distaste but didn’t say anything.

“Witton is too friendly for her own good. She talks to everyone in the building. But, she took one look at me and her eyes went huge and she stared. And made a squeaking noise and ran off.”

Peggy laughed. “She likely recognized you from somewhere. She is from another Earth. It is likely your doppelgänger was on something she watched.”

“Yeah, I thought of that. I guess she didn’t see who my character was in the movies based on our lives, as Steve didn’t know I was related to you till I told him. But, the really weird thing is Barnes calls me Emily when he gruffly greets me. It seems to amuse him greatly.”

The kettle whistled. Sharon got up and poured the water over the tea leaves in the teapot and set it on the table. She poured hot water into the teacups and let them sit for a minute before dumping the water out of the cups. She dried them before placing them back on the table.

“Do you know Barnes’ mental state?”

“He’s seeing a therapist. He seems stable. He isn’t the most talkative guy. The most he’s ever said to any of us is when he greets me with the wrong name.”

Aunt Peggy smiled. “He was a strange one. I did not know him very well. He kept to himself after Steve rescued him. If he wasn’t with the Commandos, he was on his own. A lot of men were quiet after going into battle. I watched him, but he never showed any other signs of shell shock. As I did not know him before the war, I assumed he was simply shy and quiet.”

“He’s not shy,” Sharon said.

“Nor was he before he went to war. Or quiet. According to the oral history Steve’s shared since his unthawing.”

“He’s quiet now.”

“Wouldn’t you be?”

“If I lived with Witton, I’d have almost no choice.”

Aunt Peggy smiled. “True. She does talk quite a bit. A wonder she and Loki get along…”

Sharon dumped some sugar into her tea and stirred. “I can’t keep them off. Something…something is going on within the CIA. I…I’m not sure what, but after what happened with SHIELD I am leery of anything setting off my…”

Sharon had no idea how to describe the tiny, bad feelings she got when something was wrong.Secretary Ross was eerily silent about the outbreak of enhanced humans, which set off all kinds of alarm bells for Sharon, but evidently no one else. 

Something was brewing.

“Everett Ross is working with the Secretary of State on some sort of project that involves the UN, as that’s Everett Ross’s thing when he’s not annoying the hell out of me about my Barnes assignment. The UN is getting ready to make some big announcement about doing something about reigning in the Avengers.”

Peggy made a noise of distaste and dumped a whole lot of cream into her tea.

“There’s a faction within the CIA working with the Secretary of State on something behind the scenes. Something…that goes along with General Ross’s track records.”

“Which everyone has conveniently forgotten about,” Peggy scoffed. She stirred her tea a little virtuously before going on. “We both knew something was bound to happen politically after that disaster in Sovokia. It’s amazing it’s taken them two years to get themselves together with the public outrage that is still boiling.”

“It is really? They are the government, multiple governments.”

“After the destruction in Malibu, I was amazed the United States didn’t pass laws outlawing aliens,” Peggy snorted. “For a country inhabited by immigrants, they are massively frightened of them.”

“I don’t think the aliens who invaded wanted to live here,” Sharon pointed out.

“The politicians have been waffling for years the Avengers need to be reined in, as clearly they go around making worldwide disasters to save us all from.”

“Stark made Ultron.”

“Yes, he did,” Aunt Peggy said, itching her nose. She sighed tiredly. “Did that surprise you?”

“No.”

“Me either. I always knew when Tony showed interest in robotics he would someday accidentally build a homicidal robot. He liked those Terminator movies a little too much.”

Sharon snorted. 

“What does Barnes have to do with the Avengers?”

“He’s enhanced,” Sharon answered. “What Secretary Ross is working towards is larger than the Avengers. I’ve got no proof yet, but he’s going to start rounding up enhanced humans and hold them somewhere. He’s going to build an army. And human rights be damned, as Ross isn’t known for believing people have rights.”

Peggy pressed her lips together. “Have they found Doctor Banner?”

Sharon shook her head. “He’s really good at hiding.”

“He’s not, really,” Peggy sighed. “He’s really not. Are you sure Fury doesn’t know where he is?”

“Isn’t Fury dead?”

Peggy laughed. “Sure, darling.”

“God, does anyone die anymore?” Sharon asked, leaning back in her chair and throwing her head to rest on the back of it.

“People die every day.”

“Are you telling me he managed to live through a Winter Solider assassination?”

“Nicholas was never going to be an easy kill. He is very paranoid,” Peggy gently said. “He’s been keeping himself off the radar. It’s good to know the CIA doesn’t know he’s alive. He can do more work in the background.”

“Yeah, well, okay. I guess it’s good he’s not dead,” Sharon conceded. “Is he the one rebuilding SHIELD?”

“No. That’s Phil Coulson.”

“Yeah, well, I guess that makes sense. God, I watched Fury die, Aunt Peggy.”

“I know, darling.” Peggy patted her hand gently and Sharon picked her head up off the back of the chair. “SHIELD will make a comeback. The ATCU is corrupt.”

“I know. Why do you think I went with the CIA?” Sharon asked. “The ATCU is like…”

“ _There’s a house in New Orleans, they call the ‘Rising Sun’ / And it’s been the ruin of many a young boy_ ,” Aunt Peggy sang, a sadly amused expression on her face.

“Yeah. Pretty much,” Sharon agreed, shaking her head. “The ATCU was run by a HYDRA goon. Funded by him too. He’s like…part of a weird HYDRA faction. Like, it’s older than the one you dealt with. It’s a big mess. I’ve got friends who were blindsided by it and, well, they’ve now left governmental service.”

“Do you know what the…politicians plan to do about the Avengers?”

“No. Since Secretary Ross has gotten quietly involved, there’s not been a thing leaked and no one knows,” Sharon replied. “Another reason I’m here.”

Aunt Peggy nodded. “It would be rather easy to have Barnes vanish, wouldn’t it? Only Witton would be aware he was missing.”

Sharon nodded. “That’s what went wrong the last time people went after him, I think. Witton waited awhile before she called Steve and told him.”

“You’re sure she told him?”

“Yeah, he got a lot better at tracking where Barnes had been than he’d been before. We were all curious how he was doing it, as he was able to track him better than we were, and we knew where he was. Well, most of the time. He’d vanish and we’d lose him for weeks at a time. Then he’d pop back up.”

Aunt Peggy stared at her for a long time.

“What?”

“Nothing. Just something I always wondered about regarding Loki’s ease of traveling.”

“You think he shared with Barnes?”

“I think he might have. When Barnes would vanish, did HYDRA bases explode?”

“Yes. I began to believe when we’d lose him at airports he was going off and doing that. Steve would follow in his wake. Always missing him.”

“You tried to track him, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. In Anchorage, I don’t think he knew where we were. I think he was aware of people tracking him, as he’d go out of his way to throw us off his tail. Because he was living with Witton, we had to keep our distance, as if we got too close and he told her…well…”

“Well, what?”

“Then Steve would know we knew where Barnes was while he ran around the world looking. And I’d flat out told him we had no idea where he was,” Sharon admitted. “I’m not sure the CIA, let alone me, could withstand Steve if he set his mind to making us tell him everything we know about Barnes.”

Peggy’s eyebrows went up.

“Barnes went to find Witton. Why the hell would he go find Witton rather than Steve? In the days following the events in DC, he went to the Smithsonian. We have him on video there, talking to Witton. She leaves and he sits down and doesn’t move for ten minutes and when he does, he’s moving differently. Like he has a mission. No one heard or saw him after that till he reappeared at the mall in Anchorage on CCTV. He was sitting outside the Stark store for a few minutes after buying new clothes at Nordstroms before he started following Witton who happened to be there.”

Aunt Peggy wore a contemplative look. “He went to find her. After she likely told him where she lived.”

“Yes. Later, we were pretty sure he was the one blazing a trail north via HYDRA bases. Though, he stopped in Canada for some reason. We weren’t sure why he went to see Witton, but because it was Witton, I volunteered for watching duty.”

“Really. That’s why?”

“Mostly. Someone has to watch her back,” Sharon shrugged. “She didn’t realize she had a whole task force watching her back when SHEILD fell. And her information was out there just like Loki’s. The only reason there wasn’t a major backlash was because the CIA moved in to keep the governmental bigwigs happy and in the time Witton had lived there, she’d built quite a bit of goodwill with her neighbors and clients.”

“But you didn’t mention to the local government that the Winter Solider moved in, did you?”

“No. To everyone who met him, he was just another vet with PTSD.”

“And he did nothing alarming?”

“No. He took baking and cooking classes at a local cooking school, he went to a coffee house near where Witton lived, and he drove her to and from work. Oh, and when she was still in beauty school he drove her there too. He replaced the flooring in the house because for some unknown reason the carpets were all bleached. At first, we were concerned he was trying to hide something, but Witton was still alive and laughed a lot when she saw the rolls of carpet by the curb, so we weren’t sure what happened.”

Aunt Peggy snorted. “Did it occur to you he didn’t know how to clean?”

“What?”

“He was likely was trained to not leave a trace of himself behind,” Peggy gently said. “And another side of him told him to clean the house as thanks for letting him remain. He didn’t have much to offer, so he likely cleaned the whole house in the only way he likely knew.”

“You mean, he cleaned it like you’d clean a crime scene?”

“It seems.”

“They don’t bleach carpets,” Sharon pointed out.

“Do you think he knew that? He was likely taught to destroy evidence. Cleaning and destroying evidence likely weren’t different if he researched it before he did it.”

“Researched it?”

“Sergeant Barnes was not as stubborn as Steve Rogers when it came to technology. He was utterly fascinated by it. While Howard could talk circles around Steve, Barnes could keep up and knew what the hell Howard was going on about at a basic level if not at the same level as Howard.”

Sharon blinked.

“People always forget Howard Stark didn’t go to university,” Aunt Peggy said, rolling her eyes.

“He didn’t? But…he was a genius.”

Peggy outright laughed. “Yes, and most genius’ do not need higher education. Howard knew how to get what he wanted by lying to people, by making himself something he wasn’t born into. And he lived the American dream because of it. He was a self-made man, created an empire, and made millions. He had a brilliant mind, do not get me wrong, but it was educated on the streets of the Lower East Side of New York City, not at an Ivy League university.”

“Are you saying Barnes is a genius too?”

“Oh, no. But he’s not stupid. I’m not saying Steve isn’t clever, just in a different manner. Steve’s brain works differently due to the serum: he remembers everything now. But that doesn’t mean he really understands. Or wants to. Barnes, though, has always wished to understand everything. He wants to learn. What do you think he did upon waking up in the twenty-first century with inventions he had only dreamed about abstractly come to life?”

“Learned to use them?”

“Exactly. I have no doubt while Steve doesn’t want to get the Internet, Barnes embraced it and learned to use it like an expert.” 

Sharon contemplated that. “It would explain how he was able to lose us so easily. If he…and if he was friends with Loki, it’d explain his ability to make himself invisible to CCTV.”

“Or that could simply be due to the fact for seventy years he was invisible,” Peggy sadly reminded Sharon. “He is an assassin who for seventy years operated in the shadows, was a ghost story none claimed to believe, but all of us feared.”

“You didn’t believe the Winter Soldier was real?”

“No. I did. I did not believe it was one person, but rather a group of people. In a sense, I was right.”

Sharon gave her aunt a half smile and stared back into her teacup.

“What should I do? About telling Steve?”

Aunt Peggy stared into space for a solid five minutes before she said, “Barnes doesn’t wish to be found. Until you know he is in direct danger and needs Steve to save him, don’t tell him.”

“I thought you’d tell me I should have told him a long time ago.”

Aunt Peggy cast her sharp gaze to Sharon. “I love Steve, but he has always had a problem letting things go. I think Barnes realizes this. There is a reason he’s keeping to himself, there’s a reason he’s let Witton find him after he ran off.”

“Pretty sure they’re together. Like relationship-wise,” Sharon filled in. “Besides the dopey look he wears when he sees her, I live next door and the walls are thin.”

Peggy snorted. She recovered quickly and gave Sharon a small smile. “He’s a different person than the Bucky Steve knew during the war, and a very different person from the one Steve had known his whole life before the war. Barnes has not bothered anyone for two years. He’s made a life for himself. I say, leave him be. When he and Witton are ready, they’ll find Steve.”

Aunt Peggy polished off her tea.

“I assume you will be here for a few days,” she said, pushing herself back from the table. “I always love when people randomly drop by.”

Sharon laughed. “I know you do.”

* * *

_Head stuck in a cycle, I look off and I stare / It’s like that I’ve stopped breathing, but completely aware_

_-Lady Gaga, “Million Reasons”_

* * *

Steve didn’t fool himself that every op would be a great one, that every mission wouldn’t have casualties. He’d been in an actual, on the ground, guns firing at his head, people being blown up before his eyes kind of war for a solid year without a break.

War was all he knew.

He hated it.

He also hated seeing what it was doing to Wanda.

This wasn’t the first mission where things hadn’t gone right with her powers, where she hadn’t exactly gotten the results she wanted. It was, though, the first time since Sovokia there’d been casualties of innocent people. Aid workers. People minding their own business.

It was partly his fault. Rumlow had distracted him.

_Your Bucky._

_He remembered you._

_Your Bucky._

Shaking his head Steve got off the elevator, heading down the hallway towards Wanda’s room. Wanda, Sam, Vision, and Hill all had rooms on the fourth floor, located in the “living quarters” wing. There was also a common room, a huge kitchen, dining room, and little-used game room. Steve was pretty sure no one used the kitchen besides Sam. Vision didn’t eat, Wanda spent most of her time eating in the cafeteria downstairs, and Steve hadn’t actually ever seen Hill eat. Or she just used the tiny kitchen in her apartment.

“Captain.”

“Vision.”

Vision looked a little grave. He hadn’t been along for the ride this time, as they didn’t need him. It was supposed to be mostly low key and Vision, like Thor, wasn’t low key.

Then again, anytime Steve suited up, he wasn’t sure how they were supposed to be low key. His uniform was anything but low key.

He needed to stop thinking _low key_ , as that reminded him of Loki, who he hadn’t seen in months. Since their led on Bucky had gone stone cold in Mexico, Loki had been fully wrapped up in whatever the hell was going on at SHIELD. While Steve had heard from him regularly, he’d not seen his boyfriend in a month. He missed the lug.

“Have you spoken to Wanda yet?”

“Yes. She is taking it hard.”

Vision frowned a little, clearly not understanding what was going on with the girl. Steve ran a hand through his hair.

“Stark’s on his way,” Steve said, a pit opening up in his stomach.

Stark had been weird— well, more off-kilter than usual. He’d avoided coming to the compound, so the fact he was making his first trip here since he’d come almost a year ago…something was going on. Something big. Steve glanced at the news footage Vision had scrolling on the big TV screen, while also holding a tablet scrolling various footage of the explosion in Lagos.

No one mentioned that if the bomb Rumlow had set off had actually gone off on street level, the casualties would have been much higher. Also, Captain America would be dead. Again. Though, this time likely for good. Steve was pretty sure getting himself blown up would end him.

No. The media was focusing on how an enhanced human was loose and blowing things up in the name of the Avengers, killing bystanders without care.

Never mind if Rumlow had gone about unchecked, there’d be a widespread fatal illness running rapidly all over the world in a few days, but no one cared about that either.

He ground his teeth together. Vision had turned the sound off, but Steve knew what they were saying. They were all saying the same things they said every single time the Avengers made the news. Never mind the lives they saved, the lives they changed, the things they did to prevent something worse from happening (aliens destroying the world, an evil robot killing the human race, HYDRA taking out those who it deemed “trouble,” men hell-bent on revenge against Tony Stark (there were quite a few of those)), no, the media only focused on the destruction they caused trying to stop something worse.

All wars caused destruction, but most media outlets didn’t bother to highlight that. The Avengers weren’t fighting a war, they were tearing through the world ignoring laws, innocent people, etc.

Steve was so tired.

He heaved himself out of the common room and headed for Wanda’s room. Her door was open. Wanda had chosen a loft like apartment. There were no walls in the room and her bed was close to the door. She was seated on her bed staring at her own flat screen TV, new footage of the Lagos disaster. Steve’s eyes swept the room. She’s put many personal touches on the space in the past year and it warmed his heart she was making the apartment her home, even if it did strike Steve as a glorified hotel room with the lack of proper kitchen.

He hoped it remained her home for a long time, but he was beginning to fear the worst was coming.

“I fear you are right, Steve,” Wanda said, still watching the TV. “They are frightened of me.”

“They don’t know you,” Steve said, pushing himself off the door frame.

“They don’t wish to know me,” Wanda quietly said, sighing. “They will always fear me.”

“They should fear me, yet they don’t,” Steve pointed out. “While I’m an Avenger, I don’t get grouped into the group. I destroyed part of DC, yet people still love me.”

Wanda gave him a strange look, wavering a little where she was seated.

“Can I sit?”

She nodded.

Steve sat down next to her on the bed, clasping his hands together between his bent legs.

“What do you think is going to happen?” Wanda asked quietly.

“Honestly? They’re going to try to control us, they’re going to do what they’ve been trying to do since Ultron.”

“Control how?”

Steve rubbed his hands together and looked at her. “I don’t know. They haven’t dropped the hammer yet. But, when they do, it’ll be bad.”

“For me?”

“For all of us,” Steve said, sitting up straight. “Wanda, this team…we’re a family. We’ve got each other’s backs. Since the fall of SHIELD, since…since I’ve no longer had to work for the bullies, for HYDRA, god. I worked for HYDRA.”

While he’d thought this before, he hadn’t in a while. And it still made him sick to his stomach.

“You like not answering to a higher power, don’t you?”

“It’s not that,” Steve insisted. “I can follow orders.”

Wanda gave him a look. “I’ve read history. You are the worst soldier known to man.”

Steve tipped his head back and smiled. “Okay, yeah.”

“But, you follow your gut. And sometimes that is better,” Wanda allowed. “To be a good man rather than the perfect soldier.”

Steve gasped quietly. He was pretty sure Wanda hadn’t pluck that out of his head. Mostly because she was looking at him in question.

“Someone said that to me once. Reminded me to…” he trailed off, putting his hand over his heart. Wanda raised her hand and placed it on his. They met eyes.

“You are a good man,” Wanda insisted. “You took my brother and me on after we’d tried to kill you. You trusted me enough to try to fix the mess I made after I gave you that vision.”

Steve nodded.

“Whoever told you that, he was right,” Wanda said, dropping her hand and turning back to the TV. She turned it off. “Who was it?”

“The doctor who took a chance on a ninety-five pound, five foot four, asthmatic punk who lied on his enlistment papers,” Steve said.

“Oh,” Wanda breathed.

“He told me it the night before I got injected with the serum. I’ve tried…you know, I came in here to talk about you. To see how you were doing. Not have a mid-life crisis on you.”

“You missed that,” Wanda joked. “You were frozen.”

“I’ve not gotten there yet. I know my ID says I’m almost a hundred, but I’m really only thirty. I think.”

“Yes, I know. Mentally and physically you are young, I know this. I felt it. Yet, you are old in your soul.”

“Thanks?”

Wanda smiled softly. She turned back to the blank TV. “I am frightened of what they will do to me.”

Steve put his hand on her shoulder. He was also afraid. But, he’d go down fighting for her if need be.

“Excuse me,” came Vision’s voice.

Wanda and Steve jumped apart. Vision had floated through the wall.

“Viz, we talked about this!” Wanda scolded.

Vision looked a little confused, looking at the open door.

“The door was open, so I thought it’d be okay,” he said.

Steve smiled, but Wanda shook her head.

“We do not float through walls!” she rebuked, getting to her feet as she gently asked, “What did you want?”

“Oh, Mr Stark is here. He’s brought…company.”

The hackles rose on Steve’s back. He looked at Vision, who was not looking at them.

“Who?” Wanda asked quietly.

Vision turned his head and said, “The Secretary of State.”

Steve’s stomach dropped out as Wanda grabbed his hand and gave him a quick squeeze before she squared her shoulders.

“We’re all gathering in the meeting room on the main floor.”

Vision landed (he’d been floating), then walked out the door. Wanda marched after him. Steve fisted his hands, squeezed till he felt something crack, then let out a forced breath.

He was not a fan of the new Secretary of State, mostly because he knew Ross’s backstory, knew what he’d been doing most of his life. The fact the president had chosen this man for the job after Pierce?

Yeah, Steve wondered who the President really was under it all. First a HYDRA leader and now a former army general who’d had a great hand in creating the Hulk and was obsessed with super soldiers.

Steve did not like this one bit.

* * *

_There are things you have to throw out / That caustic dread inside your head will never help you out / You have to be very strong_

_-Lou Reed, “Magic and Loss”_

* * *

There was so much to do.

Well, not a lot to do. Aunt Peggy was very clear in how she wanted her funeral to play out, who she wanted to be there, who was supposed to do what, and contingencies if the people were dead or unable to carry out their duties. Sharon wasn’t even the person who was in charge of everything— that was her grandpa.

And she’d already called him.

“You call the young ones,” he’d told her, giving her a list of people to contact. They were all people her own ages: cousins, friends, Steve Rogers, and someone called Tom Hiddleston.

God, she did not want to call Steve Rogers.

She opened up her phone book and decided to start with Tony Stark. She could text him. He hadn’t seen Peggy in years and was a jerk, so a text would do. She tapped it out, hit his name, and sent it before scrolling to the next name in the list: Steve.

Wait.

Did she just send the text to Steve and not Stark?

Crap.

She scrolled to Stark’s name, which was above Steve’s, and dialed. It rang twice before Stark answered.

“Please tell me you did not just text Rogers to tell him his wartime sweetheart died,” Stark opened with.

Sharon cursed.

“She’s dead?”

“Went in her sleep, peacefully after a fun-filled day with me.”

“What’d you do?”

“Had tea, talked about the game Where In The World is Loki Whatever The Hell His Name Is Now.”

“Fun game. You should call Steve. When’s the funeral?”

“Three days from now.”

“What? No. I’ll have to be in Vienna for the Accords signing.”

“You’re signing?”

“Of course.”

“I take it Rogers isn’t?”

“It didn’t seem like he was open to the idea,” Stark said, sounding as if he was going to hang up in a second because Sharon was boring him.

“You’re to sit in the back and not attract any attention away from the dead,” Sharon said and hung up before he could hang up on her.

She dialed Steve.

“I am so sorry,” she said when the phone stopped ringing.

“I just talked to her,” Steve all but cried at her.

“Steve, she was over ninety,” she gently reminded him. “She knew she could go at any time. She was thrilled you were found and she was able to reconnect with you.”

“I know. When is the funeral?”

“In three days. You’re a pallbearer if you want the job.”

“Of course I want the job,” Steve said. “Uh, have you reached Loki?”

“No. Is he also known as Tom Hiddleston?”

“Yeah. I’ll let him know, please?”

Sharon pressed her lips together but agreed. She picked up the phone and dialed a number that was not programmed into her phone, nor would she be programming it into her phone.

“You called?”

“Peggy’s gone.”

“Oh. Uh, sorry?”

“Figured you should tell Barnes.”

“Oh, yeah. Did you tell Steve?”

“Just before you.”

“Okay. Keep on being weird, Emily.”

Sharon stared at the phone and shook her head. She wasn’t the strange one, it was Jess Witton who was the odd duck in the situation.

* * *

_I’m waiting for the war to end / Are we ending to begin again? / If patience is so virtuous, then maybe I’ll be damned_

_-Of Mice & Men, “Game of War” _

* * *

Sam let out a rather loud snore and his head flopped onto Steve’s shoulder. Steve glanced at him before moving the lug’s head to a more comfortable position. He flipped through the huge packet of papers he’d brought with him for the third time. They’d be landing in London in a half hour and he had maybe one more shot at reading this travesty.

“How many times do you plan to read that?” a smooth voice asked him from the other side of the aisle.

“Till I make sure I’ve gotten everything.”

“You do know the suits won’t change a thing,” Loki went on in the strange accent he was using for the trip. It was supposed to be Minnesotan, but Steve wasn’t sure Loki nailed it very well.

“I’m not trying to change their minds. I want to change Stark’s. If I change Stark’s, he’ll do something about the suits.”

Loki made a doubtful noise. “Should I be jealous?”

“Huh?”

“Samuel is asleep on your shoulder,” Loki lightly said. “Drooling.”

“He’s drooling?” Steve asked as he felt the wetness through his shirt. “Okay, that’s not on.”

He gave Sam a shove. Sam woke with a start.

“Sorry man, but you’re drooling on me,” Steve informed him, going back to reading.

Sam wiped his mouth. “Was not. Why you still awake? Do you sleep? Does he sleep?”

“At times,” Loki said, settling back into his seat. “But, he’s busy trying to change Stark’s mind— a challenge on the best days.”

“Only time I’ve seen him change his mind was when he almost died in the desert,” Sam grumbled. “Or that time he built a murder robot, but hey, that’s how we got here.”

“You gotta admit he was always gonna to build a murder robot at some point in his life,” Natasha said a Minnesotan accent. She wasn’t Natasha today, but someone one called Allison. She had jet black hair that was standing straight up, matching the wig Loki was wearing. They were pretending to be twins. “He had the best intentions.”

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” Sam countered.

Steve turned the page. The other three became background noise as they flew closer to London. By the time the captain announced they were landing, Steve had finished his final read through. He was going to give the thing to Natasha to give to Stark, as she was heading to Vienna as soon as the funeral was over, but instead, he put it in his bag. Natasha eyed him for a second before she slipped her arm through Loki’s and they exited the plane together (somehow) and vanished into the crowds.

“Get that look off your face,” Sam hissed. “You are the worst undercover agent ever.”

“I’m not an undercover agent. I flunked stealth training,” Steve joked. 

“Hey, I know you want to hold his hand and dance around Heathrow, but he’s a wanted criminal and currently a member of an illegal spy organization. Oh, and he’s got blue hands and feet.”

“More reason he shouldn’t be hanging out with Nat. She’s signed them,” Steve grumped.

“Because she wants to keep fighting,” Sam pointed out. “Also, today she’s not Natasha. She’s someone else who has every right to prance around with her twin brother.”

Sam coughed to cover his laughter.

“And you don’t want to keep fighting?”

“Not really. I only got back into it because of you. If you’re hanging up your shield, I’ll throw my wings out.”

Steve grunted.

“I thought you were going to give that thing to Tasha,” Sam said as they headed for the baggage claim.

Steve and Sam’s phones beeped at the same time. Steve didn’t bother to take his out since Sam was holding his already.

“Press knows you’re here for Peggy’s funeral,” Sam sighed. “Stark’s PA person suggests you get some sunglasses and look sad.”

“I am sad. And I don’t have sunglasses.”

“Man, you’re such a loser,” Sam complained, forking over his own sunglasses. “You’re eyeballs are going to fall out if you don’t wear sunglasses, man. Don’t tell me you don’t wear sunscreen either.”

“Okay, I won’t tell you,” Steve said, taking the sunglasses.

Sam grumbled about supers solider healing as they made their way to customs.

* * *

_No matter how hard I try to be just one of the guys / There’s a little something inside that won’t let me_

_-Jenny Lewis, “Just One of the Guys”_

* * *

Tony sat in the back as instructed. Sitting next to him was Loki. Or at least he was pretty sure the person was Loki, as he smelled like Loki. He didn’t look like Loki, with curly blond hair, bright blue eyes, and a disposition that hinted that he spent a lot of time smiling.

“Hello, how did you know Agent Carter?” the man asked, his British accent crisp and monied. Private schoolboy voice, that one. Though, one Loki could master. He was a master of disguise.

“I’ve known her my whole life,” Tony answered, not bothering to disguise his own voice. He was dressed in a good black suit and wasn’t wearing his usual sunglasses and he’d toned down his facial hair. Anyone who really looked would know he was Tony Stark, but he didn’t stick out. He’d managed to slip in when everyone was distracted by Steve and Peggy’s brother arriving together.

“Really? She was the founder of SHIELD,” the man went on, looking forward to a moment. “I’ve been sent to pay our respects since the director was unable to come. I also blend in well.”

The man flashed a breathtaking smile and suddenly Tony was sure he was not sitting next to Loki. He also wanted to drown in the man’s aura. He shook his head.

“I’m Tony Stark, who the hell are you?”

“Agent Jim Nicholls,” the man merrily introduced himself, extending his hand. “Pleasure.”

Tony studied the hand for a second before saying, “I don’t like being handed things.”

“Oh! Yes, I forgot.”

He did not look offended, which kind of offended Tony.

“Where’s, uh, not Loki?”

Nicholls cocked his head to the side. “Agent Tom Hiddleston? He’s likely somewhere over there.”

Nicholls waved in the general direction of the other side of the church.

“Not with Steve?”

“Tragically, he would be unable to sit with Captain Rogers due to the Captain’s role in the funeral. Agent Carter arranged for Agent Hiddleston to be here, but hoped he’d use his blending skills to not make himself known.”

“Are you sure you’re not Loki?”

“Yes, quite sure,” the man said, smiling again.

Tony felt kind of punch-drunk looking at the guy. And he totally trusted the guy and Tony didn’t trust anyone.

“Who the hell are you?” Tony breathed.

“I’ve told you,” the guy said, still smiling. “Oh, sorry. I’m smiling, aren’t I? Daisy always tells me I have Smile Power. I guess I don’t always realize I’m doing it. Terribly sorry.”

The man now wore a serious face. He was still rather breathtaking and Tony was pretty sure he was still in love with Pepper and preferred females.

“Coulson sent you?”

“Correct. He said to sit next to you to make sure you behave. I trust you will, as you respect Agent Carter.”

Tony wanted to do something outlandish to prove the guy wrong, but he 1. Didn’t want to because Smilie was right, it was Peggy’s funeral and he respected the hell out of her and 2. The guy made him want to behave.

Tony hated this guy.

“Are you one of them?” Tony whispered as the whole church was going quiet.

“No, I’m just your average human who was transported through time and space by his horse,” the guy replied as the funeral started and Tony had to shut up.

* * *

_I’ve been reading books of old, the legends and the myths / Achilles and his gold, Hercules and his gifts / Spiderman’s control and Batman with his fists / And I clearly don’t see myself upon that list_

_-The Chainsmokers (with Coldplay), “Something Just Like This”_

* * *

“Whose idea was it to put Nicholls next to Stark?” Natasha wanted to know once the funeral was over. The pallbearers had carried the casket out to the car, but no one was going to the cemetery because Peggy wasn’t going to the cemetery.

“Coulson’s,” Loki replied.

Natasha had her arm linked through Loki’s, making it look like they were there together as a couple. Steve was in the church, where he’d escaped after the casket had been loaded into the Hurst and the family had gotten into a limo to go to the brunch they’d organized to celebrate Peggy’s life.

“Was it Coulson’s idea to have the guy latch onto Stark like a barnacle?” Sam asked, coming up next to them.

“No. That was all Nicholl’s own doing,” Loki chuckled. “How is Steven?”

“In need of a great big hug from someone who is not me.”

Loki slipped from Natasha’s grasp and went into the now empty church.

“Why’d you come?” Sam asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“I have great respect for Peggy Carter and Steve is my friend.”

Sam nodded.

“You still think I can be his friend and sign the Accords?”

“Sure. You could still be his friend and vote Republican.”

“Steve’s a communist.”

“Only in theory. He’s rather against it in practice.”

“Kind of like it only works in theory, not in practice.”

The pair stood in silence, watching it rain.

“I’ve got to go soon,” Natasha said. “What are you two going to do?”

“I think we’re going to play tourist. Steve wants to meet up with Witton,” Sam said. He stared up at the cloudy sky. “I think she’s in Sweden or something. I can’t remember.”

Natasha hummed.

“Where is she?”

“No idea. No one told me to keep track of her and she’s a grown woman. She can go where she wants,” Natasha said.

“Ah! There you are,” said a posh British voice. Natasha turned and tried not to let it show how alarming the man coming up the stairs towards them looked.

Sam, not being a trained spy, did a double take and gasped.

“Good morning, I’m Agent Nicholls,” the man said, sticking out his hand to Sam, who dumbly shook the hand and forgot to introduce himself. Nicholls waited for a beat before turning to Natasha.

“Natasha Romanov, but I’m sure you knew that,” she simpered at him.

He was unfazed. “Good to meet you. Director Coulson wanted you to know he understands and while he is sad, he’d love for you to reconsider your role as an Avenger.”

Natasha stared at Agent Nicholls, who looked alarmingly like a friendly Loki. While Clint had told her about Nicholls, she hadn’t actually met him face to face since he’d found his footing.

“I am an Avenger,” Natasha settled on.

“Yes, that’s what he assumed,” Nicholls smiled, turning towards Sam. “Director Coulson would like to extend an invitation to his organization.”

Nicholls held out an actual invitation to Sam, who took it, while looking bemused.

“He understands if you refuse, so no pressure. It was a pleasure meeting both of you.”

He tipped his hat (he was wearing an actual hat and looked dashing in it), nodded and the pair before heading down the stairs.

Sam opened and closed his mouth a few times.

“Yeah, he looks a lot like a friendly Loki,” Natasha said, slapping Sam on the back. “I’m going to go in and say goodbye. Must catch my flight with Stark, and likely Agent Nicholls there, to Vienna.”

Sam nodded in a distracted manner before heading down the stairs into the drizzle, looking as if he was being pulled by an invisible string to follow after Nicholls, who indeed bounded into the car Natasha knew was waiting for her. Nicholls opened the door and Stark’s head popped out.

“Yo! Natalie! We’re on a timetable and have this idiot tagging along!”

Nicholls pressed his lips together, looking mildly annoyed.

“He’s not an idiot,” Natasha said, passing Sam, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs looking as if he wasn’t sure where to go or what to do with his hands. Natasha slapped him on the back. “You should have stayed up top.”

“Shut up,” he muttered, shaking his head as if that’d clear whatever Nicholls had done to him.

Natasha slipped into the car. As soon as she was in, Stark climbed into the driver’s seat and glared at Nicholls who got into the passenger side.

“I just met you and I don’t think I wanna let you on my plane.”

“That’s fine. Just give me a ride to the airport. I’ll find my own way.”

“Stark, just give him a ride.”

“Why? Have you met him?”

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure he’s your new best friend.”

That got a scowl out of both men.

* * *

_I am no Superman / I have no answers for you / I am no hero, oh that’s for sure_

_-Dave Matthews Band, “Where Are You Going?”_

* * *

Tony hated when things blew up no matter what people might think. He especially when he was inside the thing blowing up. He crawled forward, ears ringing in a familiar manner, and tried to breathe.

That was a problem. Breathing wasn’t happening.

“I got you,” said a familiar voice. Someone was pulling him up and shielding him from the masses of screaming people, rubble, and other things that follow the big boom.

“You smell like Loki!” he shouted at the person. “You are not Loki!”

Tony finally pried his eyes open and found it was not Loki, but Agent Smilie. Agent Smilie, who was not smiling and looked deadly calm and as if he hadn’t just suffered through the room going boom.

“I guess I grabbed the wrong cologne,” the man joked badly.

“You cannot wear the same cologne if you’re stalking me,” Tony shouted.

“Noted, Mr Stark.” 

Tony clung to the guy as they hurried out of the building. Once they were outside, the craziness really started. Tony attempted to get away so he could get the suit to help, but Nicholls seemed to be a bodybuilder or Tony was super weak.

“Stay with me, please,” the man begged slightly. He somehow moved the pair of them to a safe spot, away from the crowds. After patting him down and dusting him off (and Tony not batting him away), the guy seemed pleased that Tony wasn’t injured badly. He dusted his shoulder off and then ran his hands through his curly hair. Dust went everywhere. For a slipt second the guy looked rattled, before he looked at peace with the world.

Freaky man.

“Where’s Tasha?” Tony asked. “We were together…”

“Ms Romanov got out before you,” Nicholls said. “She brushed me off.”

“I tried to brush you off.”

“And you failed.”

“Are you going to vanish now that I’m fine? Did Coulson send you to make sure I played nice or something?”

“No. Coulson sent me to see what the hell was going on with these Accords,” Nicholls said. “Also, I am hopelessly useless at the moment with what is going on at SHIELD.”

“What is going on?”

Nicholls gave him a tired smile. “Things I am unable to be of much help, so here I am going undercover again.”

“Undercover as what?”

“Your bodyguard. Since Mr Hogan was promoted from your driver to head of security at Stark Industries, you’ve not had a bodyguard.”

“You don’t look the part.”

“That is the point.”

“Okay, okay. So, you protected me and you got your spy on. Can I go now? I might need—”

“You stay here,” came Natasha’s voice. “We’re not to get involved at all.”

“But—”

“We signed the Accords. Nicholls.”

“Ms Romanov,” Nicholls greeted.

“Are we stuck with him?”

“He’s spying on us by pretending to be my bodyguard.”

Natasha raised an eyebrow but turned her attention to Tony. “The King of Wakanda is dead.”

Tony cursed darkly. Natasha looked at Nicholls.

“Do you know anything about Wakanda?”

“They don’t exist on where I’m from. That area of Africa is another nation.”

Natasha nodded.

“What?” Tony asked, feeling as if he was missing something.

“I’ve got him now, you go report to Coulson before this hits too many new channels,” Natasha ordered Nicholls.

Tony half excepted Nicholls to argue, but he nodded and vanished.

“Where did he go?”

“I’ve no idea. He’ll be back,” Natasha said, looking peeved. “He and Loki work together, so Loki taught him the vanishing act.”

“Why won’t Loki teach us?”

Natasha shrugged. “You okay?”

“Ears ringing. Flashbacks, chest tight, breathing trouble, but just peachy.”

Natasha nodded. “I’m going to have to go back in there. I need to know who did this and if there’s anything. And unlike you, no one will see me.”

Tony nodded. “What should I do if I can’t help?”

“Stand here till your shadow comes back. Phil sent him here for a reason. He is the worst spy known to man, but he blends in because he oozes some sort of aura that makes you like him. And that weird ass smile.”

“I know! Is he one of those powered humans? Like that took fish oil?”

Natasha shook her head. “No. You’ll have to ask him his story, but you’ll get time if Phil’s assigned him to shadow you.”

“SHEILD did that once. Didn’t work out too well,” Tony said, crossing his arms and watching the chaos of the after bombing that he had to keep out of.

“Yeah, well, Nicholls isn’t me. And I have a feeling he sent Nicholls here to get him out of the way of whatever the hell SHEILD is dealing with. So, he’s not babysitting you, you’re babysitting him.”

“But the Accords—”

“Phil likely had those before you did,” Natasha pointed out. “No, Nicholls is here for another reason. And I think it has to do with whatever the hell they’re dealing with at SHIELD. So, play nice.”

Natasha gave him a look that put the fear in Tony’s soul, so he stayed put till Nicholls reappeared.

“Mr Stark, I think it prudent we head to your hotel. There’s nothing you can do here,” Nicholls proclaimed, motioning for them to make their way down a back alley that was free of people.

“Fine,” Tony grumbled, going the way indicated. “But we’re playing Super Mario Brothers together when we get back to my room.”

“Super what?” Nicholls asked, honestly looking as if he’d never heard of it before.

Tony shook his head. “Where do you live? Under a rock?”

“I do,” Nicholls agreed cheerily. “Well, it’s really a 1950s diner in the middle of nowhere, but details.”

* * *

_We don’t notice any time pass / We don’t notice anything / We sit side by side in every class / Teacher thinks I sound funny, but she likes the way you sing_

_-The White Stripes, “We’re Going to be Friends”_


	2. Equality Before the Law

****_A/N: Uh, hello. How you've been? I've had a rough time since I last posted, but I'm feeling more myself again. I hadn't even realized I was having an ongoing mild anxiety attack until my doctor looked at me and basically told me that was why I was tired, couldn't get anything done, and felt listless. It took me awhile to recover from that anxiety attack, then once I was feeling better my home was invaded by relatives for almost two months. Now, I've got about a month and half to entertain myself before the Next Big Thing happens and I'm hoping to get the rest of this posted. So, my dear readers, have some cookies. *pops up with huge plate of cookies.*_

**Disclaimer: If you know it, I do not own it. I own a whole lot of shoes, though.**

 

 

* * *

_Listen to me and you shall hear, news hath not been this thousand year / Since Herod, Caesar, and many more, you never heard the like before_

_-Old English Ballad, “The World Turned Upside Down”_

* * *

Steve’s phone began buzzing incessantly while they were in the National Gallery. Upon seeing he had five dozen missed calls from a blocked number, but it was calling his brand new iLoki, he decided to go outside and answer it.

“Hello?”

“They’re going after Mr. Barnes,” whispered a posh voice over the line.

“Who is this?”

“Oh, sorry. It’s Agent Nicholls.”

“What is going on?”

“There was an explosion in the building where they were signing the Accords. You know the formal for the press and public signing? They’ve already signed the blasted thing weeks ago,” Nicholls went on whispering.

“Why are you whispering?”

“Because I don’t want Mr Stark to hear me.”

“Why not? You don’t work for him, do you?”

“As of this moment, I’m not sure who I work for,” muttered Nicholls. “The United Nations and others are going after Mr Barnes. I do not believe Mr Barnes did the bombing. It’s not his style and the person who looked like him caught on camera didn’t walk correctly. Also, he was caught on camera. As SHIELD, the CIA, FBI, and Interpol know, Mr Barnes is about as good at avoiding cameras as Loki, if not better.”

“I HEARD THAT!” Loki shouted, coming up behind Steve and scaring him to death.

“Lo—Tom!” Steve scolded as a number of people turned to stare at him and Loki. Loki was dressed for being in public without a different persona other than Agent Hiddleston, which meant he was wearing gloves and tinted glasses. The white blond hair was hidden under a beanie, which seemed like a stupid thing to be wearing in the spring. Then again, gloves also seemed a bit overkill in the muggy London spring air.

“Jim, what can I do?”

“I have the location of Agent Sharon Carter,” Nicholls whispered, sounding like he was moving frantically through an air duct with the way his voice echoed. “She will meet you at the location I’m sending to Agent Hiddleston.”

“Oh, joy. A pub,” Loki muttered at his phone.

“Please, try to be subtle. They will be looking for you to react. Now, go find a TV to watch so you can see the news story. Please looked shocked and outraged.”

Nicholls hung up.

“Oh,” Loki breathed as Sam caught up with them. “This is bad.”

“Nicholls said to go find a TV so I can find out where others can see,” Steve whispered.

“Seriously?!” Sam screeched, reading the screen of Loki’s phone. “We’ve spent almost three damn years looking for that idiot and he goes off and bombs a VERY PUBLIC EVENT?!”

“Never mind,” Steve muttered as several people stopped, stared, and snapped photos of the three of them standing around, two reading a phone and looking outraged. “Pretty sure people know we’ve found out. How is my outraged face?”

Loki gave him a look that meant he had to work on his fake outraged face.

* * *

_And when they flashed your picture ‘cross the screen / How my heart seemed to leap out of me / And they attached a list of your identities_

_-The Decemberists, “Valerie Plame”_

* * *

Steve Rogers was the worst. He was such a gigantic dork.

Sharon slid the file across the bar while watching the soccer match on the TV in the pub of her choosing.

“The CIA is working with General Ross,” Sharon said casually, “on something rather horrible. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s not good.”

“You think this is a part of that?”

“Yes and no. He did not do it. Not his style.”

“Yeah, someone already told me that.”

“Told me that too when he— are you reading a top secret file in a pub?”

Steve quickly slammed the file shut as Loki materialized out of nowhere and took it from him. She blinked and Loki was gone again.

“Damn. How does he do that?”

“No idea. I’d say magic, but he’s not magical any longer,” Steve offered with a shrug.

“I’m heading to Romania. I can hold them off for maybe ten hours since there’s a civilian living with him who might be dangerous and we need to clear her. You’ve got ten hours to get there and get him out.”

“And do what exactly with him?” Sam Wilson asked, butting in between her and Steve at the bar. She gracefully moved over while Steve glared at Wilson like Wilson was stepping on his game. Wilson gave her a flashy smile while pushing the baseball cap he was wearing back. He nodded his head at the TV as if he was asking her about the game. “We aren’t exactly the sort to hold a super soldier who’s good at vanishing.”

“He did not do this and once the CIA gets a hold of him, I cannot assure he will remain where I can keep him safe.”

“You’ve known where he is for years,” Steve suddenly realized. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Same reason Witton didn’t,” Sharon countered.

“Telling us now due to danger,” Wilson said, still wearing the flirty smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Sharon smiled, shaking her head like she was turning Wilson down, and walked out of the pub. She paused at the corner.

“She’s there. With him.”

“Yup. Calls me Emily every single time she sees me,” Sharon answered as Loki handed the file folder back to her.

“Revenge,” was all Loki said before he let the crowds of London swallow him whole. Sharon slipped the file back into her purse and continued on her way. She returned to her room at the hotel of her choosing and reached into her pocket for the object Loki had slipped her.

“If this is revenge, then I like it,” she said, looking over the slick object she’d gotten. She’d heard about iLokis but had never seen one other than at afar. She turned it on and it had several numbers programmed in. She dialed one.

“You got a phone,” Phil Coulson said. “Care to come work with me?”

“Tell Nicholls I got Steve the information. Hopefully, he’ll make it in time,” Sharon said, packing her clothes into her suitcase. “And no. I’m gonna stay here where I can get you information.”

“Thank you. Now, if you excuse me, I must battle the flu.”

Shaking her head, she put the new phone into a secret compartment in her suitcase, then locked it.

“You ready?” Everett Ross called out, banging on her door like the loud, annoying person he was.

She didn’t bother to answer him till she opened the door.

“You took an hour long shower,” he complained. “We’re going to be late to extract the suspect.”

“I’m sure we’ll make it since he doesn’t know we’re coming.”

“He’ll know.”

“We both know they don’t watch the news,” Sharon pointed out. “They don’t use the TV to watch anything live. We need to get Witton out first. She’s been sick.”

“We take them both.”

“What? No! What’s Witton done?”

“Harbored a fugitive.”

The man looked a little too excited about extracting the pair and Sharon prayed their flight was canceled and Steve somehow managed to get a Quinjet.

* * *

_I know my rights, I’ve been here all day and it’s time for me to go / So, let me know if it’s alright / I just can’t take this, I swear I told you the truth_

_-The Killers, “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine”_

* * *

Steve glanced around, not needing to check the address to know he was in the right neighborhood and at the right building. He put his hand to his ear.

“This doesn’t feel right, does it?”

“Yeah, it doesn’t seem like a guy who doesn’t wanna be found would hide here,” Sam’s voice came. “But, this is the address for a Sebastian Stan and Jennifer Wallzinski. This guy looks like Bucky. Girl kinda looks like Jess. Well, maybe not. I never met the girl.”

“It’s them,” came Loki’s voice over the com.

The woman did kinda look like Jess, but not. There was something off about her face that made Steve think that it couldn’t be Jess. Well, besides the fact Jess was supposedly in Finland. She said she was going to hang out where the midnight sun shone for the summer.

Having made it in record time (Loki had procured a private plane somehow) and the building not looking like it had been invaded by a SWAT team, Steve pressed in a code he figured Bucky would pick out and the door buzzed open. Taking a deep breath, he entered the building and started up the stairs. The apartment was on the second floor.

It was a really nice building, historic but cared for deeply. When Steve pictured where Bucky had been living for the past year since he’d gone missing, this was not what he imagined. Nor did he think he’d be living with a woman. Then again, that woman might be Jess.

Reaching the door, he decided to knock instead of breaking in. It looked like a really nice door.

“O clipă!”

Steve heard clattering footsteps, something crash, then the door was flung open. He stared at the woman. Her eyes were brown, a deep almost artificial looking shade, kind of like her skin. Her hair seemed to be natural, as it was a robust brunette shade that Steve adored on women. It was like Peggy’s.

“Ms Wallzinski?”

“Huh?”

“Do you speak English?”

“Steve, it’s me.”

Steve stared at the woman, blinking dumbly. In his ear, Sam let out a low whistle.

“Well, look who is great at going undercover,” Sam muttered.

“Get in here. Crap,” she muttered.

Steve stepped in and looked around as the woman shut the door behind him. The main living area was light, airy, and filled with the waning morning light. The furniture looked modern, yet went with the historic accents left in the remodeled area. There was a yoga mat spread out on the floor and two small hand weights. There was a small flat screen sitting on a huge tv table that was playing a workout program.

“Are those pregnant women?”

“Yes, Rogers,” Jess replied. “What happened?”

Steve tore his eyes away from the TV and looked for Jess, but she wasn’t anywhere to be seen so he stepped further into the apartment. Following the noise to a door off the main living area, he found the bedroom. Jess was standing before a dresser throwing things into a backpack. He glanced around, taking in the bunk beds.

“What happened to you?”

“Contacts and lack of hair dye. What is going on?”

“They think Buc—Sebastian blew up the building where they were singing the Accords in. I’m here to bring him in before the SWAT team does.”

“What are the Accords and when did he blow up a building? Seb hardly leaves the flat.”

“Do you not watch the news?”

“No. We don’t actually watch any live TV.”

“I don’t have time to explain,” Steve sighed. “What are you doing?”

“If Captain America found us, then it is time to go. Also, they think Seb blew a building up and you just said a SWAT team was coming. They won’t knock like you did. Shoot before they question.”

She zipped the backpack, swayed a little, ran into the bathroom, and threw up.

“Are you okay? You’re not wanted. I mean, if Bu— I mean, if Seb comes with me, then there’s no trouble. Or maybe…you don’t think he blew the building up?”

Jess rinsed her mouth out as Steve stood by the door. She appeared fine, other than looking a little sweaty. She spit out the water in her mouth and opened the bathroom window.

“He’s not left the city since he got here. When did the building blow up?”

“Yesterday.”

“He was making cookie dough. It’s in the fridge. He makes it on Wednesday and bakes it on Thursday afternoon to sell at the market on Friday.”

Jess hoisted the backpack to the window and tossed it out. She pulled her hair tightly into a bun, then flattened it with some sort of cap.

“Where are you going?”

“Elsewhere,” she remarked, pulling on a bright orange wig she’d pulled out of a cabinet above the toilet. She hoisted herself up onto the window ledge.

“Jess, what are you—”

She flipped out the window.

“JESS!”

Steve crossed the tiny bathroom and went to jump after her only to find her scrambling down a fire escape to the back alley.

“Action Plan Seven,” she proclaimed, landing on the ground. “Say hi to Loki.”

“Jess!”

She ran off, vanishing around the corner.

“Jess is heading north in the back alley. She shouted Action Plan Seven. Mean anything to either of you?” Steve asked Sam and Loki over the comms. Loki had been suspiciously quiet throughout his exchange with Jess.

“No,” Loki said. “I’m going after her.”

“I’ll stay here,” Sam replied.

“She’s got very, very orange hair,” Steve reported, exiting the bathroom, which had the lingering smell of vomit.

“Copy.”

Steve entered the main area and headed for the TV, staring at the pregnant women working out on the screen. He turned back towards the bedroom suite and jumped backward as Buc— Seb was behind him, glowering.

“Christ,” Steve said, wondering how the other man had snuck up on him. “Make some noise.”

“What do you want?”

“I…Buc—Seb—I…”

“Sebastian. Only Jess calls me Seb, but you call me Bucky.”

“Okay, but I thought—”

“You calling be Seb or Sebastian is just weird.”

“You remember me?”

“You’re Captain America.”

“Bucky.”

“Yes. You know I do. They coming?”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t do it.”

Bucky moved quickly and ripped the floorboard up and yanked a backpack out.

“I know.”

“What action plan?”

It took Steve a second to register what Bucky was talking about.

“Seven.”

Bucky stared at him for a beat then nodded. He noticed the TV behind him and frowned deeply.

“That make any sense to you?”

“No,” Bucky admitted. “Other than she’s a little strange.”

“Just strange?”

Bucky stared at him before going into the kitchen and opening drawers. He began to systematically unload things and packing them into various pockets on his person and the backpack.

“We don’t got long,” Steve said. “We can avoid a fight if you—”

“You can never avoid a fight,” Bucky grumbled, strapping his backpack on as the door blew in.

Steve threw his shield up to protect them as more things blew up as the SWAT guys flooded into the room.

“I don’t even do this crap anymore,” Bucky grumbled behind him. The next second Steve was flying through the air as Bucky threw him at the SWAT team, using him like a bowling ball. Steve tucked himself into a ball and rolled as people shouted and glass crunched. Steve got to his feet to find the SWAT guys all running out the hole where the door used to be.

“Seriously, Bucky?” Steve groaned as Sam and Loki both asked what was going on. “We’ve got a runner.”

“I’m on it,” Sam said.

“Jessica has taken lessons from Sebastian on how to hide in plain sight. What was she wearing?”

“Workout clothing. As bright as could be. Form-fitting. She’s got a huge backpack,” Steve reported, as he vaulted out the window. “How can she vanish with bright orange hair and blinding clothing? Are you losing your finesse, Lo?”

Loki did not respond.

Bucky was on foot, but from past experience, Steve knew the guy was faster than average. Not as fast as Steve on a good day, but fast enough. It seemed as if he’d been training for a marathon, as Bucky was able to stay ahead, especially when another player showed up, dressed as a cat or something.

“Who’s that?” Steve panted, as he fell into last place in the leg race. That hadn’t happened in while.

“No idea. Big cat. I got this. On your left,” Sam cawed, gliding ahead of Steve as Bucky unseated a guy who’d been riding a motorcycle. The man rolled, coming to a stop at the side of the road. The poor man unsteadily got to his feet and started shouting, throwing his helmet at Bucky’s back, hitting another car. Big Cat kept running, easily keeping up with the motorcycle.

Steve stopped running, threw his shield onto his back, and saw a car stopped in the middle of the street. He opened the driver door and saw a woman, who was freaked out and screamed.

“Mind if I borrow this? Here. Contact this number and a new car will show up at your house if you tell them Captain America commandeered your car. Kinda pressed for time.”

The woman took the card and scrambled out.

“Just borrowed an Audi SUV,” Steve said into his comms.

“Check,” Loki said. “Transferred 100,000 into the account.”

“Thanks, Lo. You find Jess?” Steve asked as he steered the SUV in the direction Big Cat and Bucky had headed.

“Yes. She is in route to a train station,” Loki replied. “I’ve got you on CCTV. You’re going to want to ditch the car. They are closing in on Sebastian. And Samuel crashed thanks to the…panther man.”

Steve pulled the car over and exited, leaping over the other cars that had stopped. There were angry drivers all over the place, shouting angrily at Steve as if this was all his fault and not the UN SWAT team or the big cat guy.

God, he was so tired of this crap. He reached Bucky as Big Cat kicked the bike in a move that would make Natasha insanely jealous. Bucky and the bike went in two different directions. Steve headed for where he knew Bucky would tumble to a stop. He reached Bucky as the authorities reached them and Big Cat stalked up. He ripped off his helmet, wearing a pissed expression. Steve jolted a little.

“Captain,” King T’Challa greeted stonily.

Inwardly, Steve sighed deeply. “Your Highness.”

Bucky’s face had no expression, but his eyes were scared. Steve raised his hands as Sam appeared out of the tunnel, surrounded by guys in black. Bucky hung his head as he raised his own hands in defeat. His whole body sagged.

“You better keep him safe,” Loki warned. “I’m not going to bust you out of jail.”

“Where you going?” Steve whispered out of the side of his mouth.

“Nowhere. When things go to hell in a handbasket, I’ll find you.”

And the line went dead as the SWAT guys closed in.

“We’ll come quietly—” Steve started, but stopped when the guys shot a bunch of strange weapons at Bucky, which made him completely collapse. “HE HAD HIS HANDS UP!”

King T’Challa frowned, looking at the SWAT guys, who wore the uniforms of the UN.

Steve was roughly grabbed and his own hands cuffed. He glanced at King T’Challa, who watched with a growing look of uncertainty. None of the SWAT guys cuffed him, though he’d been chasing Bucky the same as Steve and not working with the UN guys.

Oh, to be a king of a mysterious country.

* * *

_Nothing’s ever easy when you do it yourself / All you can do is try / Life’s not unfair, life’s just life_

_-Anthrax, “Be All, End All”_

* * *

Clint Barton was going camping, water skiing, and he was going to teach Cooper how to shoot properly. With a bow and arrow. It was going to be a blast. (And Lila if she wanted, but so far she said she was not Merida, but Rapunzel so she was going to learn to use a frying pan.)

Then his phone rang.

“What?”

“Clint?”

“Where the heck are you?” Clint asked as he looked into Lila’s room. She was trying to jam all her dolls into her backpack.

“Train for Denmark.”

Clint turned away from his daughter’s room and headed for his own bedroom.

“What happened?”

Unlike Loki and Steve, Clint knew where Witton had gone and why. He also knew she had contingency plans if something went wrong and had been training with Barnes to be able to vanish without a trace. If she was on her way to Denmark, then things had gone to pot.

“Steve showed up. Then I watched the news. He didn’t do it.”

“I know,” Clint said. “Are you calling me in to protect your boyfriend? Pretty sure he can do that himself with that metal arm and seventy years of military training.”

“No, that’s not why I’m calling. I went over all the news coverage from the past few days via Twitter, read opinion pieces and what is out there on the Sovokia Accords. Loki also tracked me down before I got on the train and he told me Steve and Tony are pitted against one another in their opinions on the Accords. Also, Peggy Carter just died. Steve was at her funeral like five minutes ago.”

“What?”

“Yeah. When things go wrong, they go WRONG. The Sovokia Accords are good and bad,” Witton started. “It’s like…Okay. I have this horrible condition where I always see and understand and agree with both sides of an argument. Like, I can understand why Steve hates the Accords and doesn’t agree with them at all. He doesn’t have good experience with oversight, well, other than that Army dude who was in charge of him for like five seconds. But he’s never taken orders well, never really listened to anything other than what his heart is telling him. Tony, on the other hand, wants something to fix everything, fix the mess he made. He’s been trying to fix this mess he created since 2008 when he became Iron Man. So far, all he’s done is really create issues with him simply being Tony Stark. He means well, but he’s a walking disaster. After Ultron, he wants oversight from someone who's not close to him. He wants something that is public to take the fall when things go wrong, some agency to handle the cleanup, the public relations, to make the world feel like they’ve got an ounce of control over the Avengers. But it’s like he’s not really thought about what that really means. Tony Stark follows orders about as well as Steve, if not worse.”

“So, what side would you pick?”

“Neither. The Accords at the moment are being presented as simply an Avenger thing. The way they are written right now, the oversight committee is going to oversee just the Avengers, but it’s not going to stop there. Once the Accords are fully ratified and the Avengers are no longer an entity on to themselves, there are people who are going to take the Accords further in light of current events regarding the…Inhumans. Especially in the US, since the guy who will be ‘in charge’ is the same guy responsible for Banner creating the Hulk and later trying to capture the Hulk and use him to his own ends and when that failed created another Hulk thing that the Hulk had to take out. And then he went and blamed the Hulk for what happened in Harlem, which was actually Ross’s doing.”

Clint was silent as he worked not to grind his teeth together. His dentist told him he was going to give himself TMJ if he kept it up and TMJ sounded horrible and not something he wanted to add to his list of ailments.

“How do you— oh, the Hulk had his own movie?”

“Two,” Witton said. “I only saw the start of the first one, as it was boring and it wasn’t really part of the whole Marvel movie arc. It was kind of on its own. I saw the second one, which dealt with how Banner went on the run and was trying to find a cure and that cure wound up creating the…whatever it was. I don’t remember the guy’s name, but he was one of Ross’s minions who was whack.”

“Okay, so…” Clint wracked his head for who Ross was. “Oh, he’s an army general, retired a few years back.”

“Yeah, well, he became a politician, as he’s now Secretary of State.”

“Go current administration,” Clint grumbled.

“You cannot require people to register because they are different,” Witton sighed. “Remember the last time a government required mass registration and public knowledge of it? Remember?”

“I don’t remember because I wasn’t alive, but I know what you mean.”

“Clint, I’m serious. I get that people are afraid of what’s happening after the whole fish pill outbreak, which whoah. I really need to pay attention to current events because I totally missed that and I used to take fish oil until Seb said vitamins were a perfect way to dose a person with mind control.”

“Seriously?” Clint asked, thinking of the cabinet of vitamins downstairs.

“It was something HYDRA was looking into. It was in the files dumped online.

“Anyway, keeping track of people with superpowers is all good and all, but it can’t be done on the scale that the crazies want it. Sure, register for public knowledge those who break the law, murder, or use their powers for evil. We already do that with criminals, so that’d be fine, but to register people like me?”

“Why would you register?”

“Because I’m not human. And think…first comes registration, then comes taking away basic civil liberties, then comes the experimentation because we’re not humans. We have no rights. Think about what they’re gonna do to Wanda.”

Every muscle in Clint’s body tensed up.

“They are terrified of her. Right now, they’ve got no control over her. They being the government, they being people with the power to do horrible things without anyone knowing any better. After these Accords are ratified, what do you wanna bet they’re going to lock her up, take away her freedom to protect everyone else? Because she is an Avenger and she will fall under their control.”

Clint pinched the bridge of his nose. “Where is she now? Do you know?”

“No. I don’t know, but what do you want to bet she’s locked away in the new, shiny headquarters with a babysitter who is instructed not to let her out?”

“Vision?”

“Who else? Clint, Peggy died a few days ago, hence why Steve turned up at my door in record time after the explosion in Vienna.”

“I can’t believe she’s gone,” Clint quietly said, remembering seeing it on the news. Most of the focus seemed to be on her service during World War II, as that was public knowledge. Her extensive career as a spy and founding SHIELD wasn’t touched upon, likely because SHEILD, her legacy, turned out to be HYDRA. Also, it was better to show her tragic love story with Cap.

No mention she freaking moved on, married, had two kids and was a working momma who did good work.

“She had a damn good life,” Clint said. “Lived to her fullest till the last minute.”

“That she did,” Witton agreed. “And she’d be horrified by the Accords, as she’d see what they’ll lead to.”

“She founded SHIELD.”

“Which was an organization that operated in the dark, not in the light of day, and tragically, that’s the key to this whole system of keeping track of enhanced beings. SHEILD has kept track of these kinds of things for decades and nothing happened as far as the public was concerned, but now we’ve got camera phones, and Twitter, and SnapChat, and Instagram.”

“You saying covert ops don’t work anymore?”

“I’m saying the Avengers are too public, they operate in the public, so I think the Avengers do need an oversight committee of some sort. But, your average Joe enhanced human? Just wants to be left alone. Just like ninety-five prefect of the world,” Witton reminded him. “I’ve only read like thirty pages out of three hundred, but I’m not an idiot. I’ve read laws before and there’s a lot of legal fluff in them, words you don’t need, just to make them unreadable. Just so people, your average Joe, won’t read them because they don’t have the time or the brain power to make sense of the legal mumbo-jumbo. No one has really read these things I think, but I don’t trust them as far as I can throw them.”

“So, like two feet. Got it.”

“I’m gonna read these things if it kills me and I will dredge up my political science knowledge if I have to because I think the Accords could work, but at the moment, I fear they are the precursor to something worse.”

“What do you want me to do? It’s not like I want to storm the next meeting and shout that the legal mumbo jumbo is evil.”

“Clint, there’s…something larger going on.”

“What?”

“Someone wants to tear the Avengers apart. More than these Accords already are doing,” Witton reasoned. “That’s why this person did something to make it look like Seb did the bombing. I know he didn’t, as he was doing his weekly cookie dough making for selling cookies on Friday morning. Seriously. They’re still in our apartment. They will likely be thrown out in the chaos or rot. Poor cookie dough.”

Witton and Clint mourned for the cookie dough.

“What’s gonna happen to you?”

“I’m going to Sweden,” Witton proclaimed. “Sweden has made it known they will not be ratifying the Accords and they will not stand behind any sort of registration of enhanced beings.”

Clint pinched his nose again. “But…SHIELD kept track of enhanced humans before. SHIELD kept track of all that crap. Someone needs to, Witton.”

“And I agree, weren’t you listening? I think people should be registered if they own guns. It’s their right to own them, but if they want to own them, they need to be healthy and able to safely use it. Hence, background checks and registering the gun.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“See my problem? I think enhanced beings should be registered or something because they do have power just like someone who owns a gun has power. If this enhanced being uses the power safely, then they’ll never have any issues. Just like a gun owner who never uses the gun to cause problems won’t be bothered. Because, honestly, a dangerous person with a gun is about as worse as an enhanced being who is hell-bent on using his or her power for evil. Yet, at the same time, when you start registering a group society has labeled as other, nothing good ever comes of it.”

Clint sighed. “I’m retired.”

“Steve’s going to need you. He’s gonna call.”

“Not Stark?”

“Who do you think thought it was a great idea to lock Wanda in the tower?”

“How do you know she’s locked up?”

“Steve, Loki, and Sam went off to London. Stark and Natasha were in Vienna, leaving Vision and Wanda behind.”

“Where’s Rhodes?”

“No idea. He might have gone with Stark to Vienna for the Accords signing. Pretty sure he’d side with Stark on this matter.”

“Stark’s not the leader of the—”

“Yeah. I get the feeling he would be.”

“How would you know? You weren’t there.”

“Didn’t need to be. Since I left, I’ve read everything I can online instead of actually reading the Accords. Stark was in Vienna. Steve wasn’t. Steve burst into— okay, he knocked politely. But he showed up at our apartment to bring Seb in. He was alone.”

“What do you want me to do, Witton?”

“Get Wanda.”

“And then?”

“Wait for Steve to call, because he’s going to call. He’s not going to let them have Seb because they’re not going to believe he’s innocent until proven guilty.”

“Well, okay. What if Stark calls?”

Witton took a deep breath. “Listen. Because, Clint, Steve is wrong and right. Tony is wrong and right. That’s the problem. And neither is going to talk to one another because both thinks he is right and the other is wrong.”

Clint cursed darkly.

* * *

_Yes, there are two paths you can go by / But in the long run there’s still time to change the road you’re on / And it makes me wonder_

_-Pink Floyd, “Stairway to Heaven”_

* * *

 

Scott was minding his own business and tweaking things in Hank Pym’s basement when his phone rang. It wasn’t a number he knew or a familiar area code, but he answered it out of curiosity.

“Yell-low.”

“Is this Scott Lang?”

“Who is this?”

“Jess Witton. I read about you online. Or, well, I read about the thing that went down at Pym Tech. I mean, your name was left out, but then I called Lo— I mean, I called Tom and asked him about it and he gave me your name because you’re now on SHEILD’s radar.”

“Who the hell is Tom?”

“Agent Tom Hiddleston,” the women said and snorted. “Agent of SHIELD.”

“Who? And I thought SHIELD went down in flames?”

“And it rose from the ashes free from HYDRA and hell-bent on carrying out Peggy Cater’s dream. You met Sam Wilson, didn’t you?”

“Are you with the Avengers? Or are you with SHIELD?”

“Neither. I’m my own entity, just kind of tangled with both. I need you to get on a plane to Berlin.”

“Uh huh. Sure. I’ll just hop on a plan for some chick I don’t know.”

“Do you know anything about the Accords?”

“Yeah. I’m not an Avenger, but…I’m also not an idiot. It’ll go farther than the Avengers, at least in this country. After they are ratified by the UN, they’ll use that to go after everyone else who is a superhero.”

“Exactly. Okay, so did you see on the news how Bucky Barnes blew up the meeting in Vienna where they were going to ratify the Accords formally?”

“Yeah, that was a little weird, as didn’t the guy die during World War II?”

“No, but that’s a story for a different day. But, seeing as he was making monster cookie dough when the bombing happened in our apartment, I know he didn’t blow the building up. Something else is going on, bigger than the Accords. Someone is using the Accords to do something worse or evil villain like.”

Scott leaned back in his chair and blinked several times. “I’m confused. Why are you calling me?”

“Uh…well, you can get really small right? Hence the Ant-Man code name. You’re ant-sized, right?”

“Look, I don’t know you, I’ve never heard of you, and I’ve got no idea how you got this number—”

“I asked Agent Hiddleston.”

“I don’t know who that guy is, honey,” Scott pointed out.

“Sam Wilson is going to call you in a few days. Or hours. You need to get your butt to Berlin because you’re gonna become an Avenger.”

“I don’t think I really want to be an Avenger,” Scott said. “I mean, at the moment if I’m not one, the Accords won’t do a thing to me, right?”

The woman let out an annoyed noise as Hank came into the room looking perplexed.

“Who is it?” he asked.

“Some girl named Jess Witton?”

Hank’s eyes went huge and he grabbed the phone from Scott.

“Witton?” There were about five minutes of Witton talking without breathing before Hanks aid, “I understand. He’ll be on the next flight.”

Hank hung up and hurried over to his ancient computer and began typing. “I’ve upgraded the suit some. And got you some new tricks. How is the making yourself gigantic going?”

“What? You’re just going to believe this chick?”

Hank sighed, turning in his chair to face Scott. “Did you not read any of the SHEILD dump?”

“No, I was in jail!”

“I read it all. Jessica Witton is close to the Avengers, she’s been mind controlled by Loki and she later was infected by Killian and made into one of those exploding fire people. She’s also from a parallel universe. She’s not an Avenger and she’s not Stark. In fact, she recruiting you to work against Stark.”

Hank looked a little too thrilled.

Scott sighed.

“Fine. Okay. Do we even know what they want me to do?”

“Fight for their side.”

“And what’s their side?”

“Against Tony Stark.”

Scott rolled his eyes. “Seriously? I got Cassie this weekend—”

“Do you want your daughter to grow up in a world where everyone and their mother knows you’re Ant-Man?”

“No.”

“Then you’re going to Berlin.”

Scott sunk down into a chair and watched as Hank booked him a ticket (first class, the man did like Scott) to Berlin.

“I’m going to Berlin.”

* * *

_You say you’ll change the constitution / Well, you know we all want to change your head / You tell me it’s the institution / Well, you know you’d better free your mind instead_

_-The Beatles, “Revolution”_

* * *

 

“Well, that went just about as well as I thought it’d go. No, wait, it was worse.”

Steve glanced at Sam before looking back at the unconscious Bucky-Sebastian Barnes.

“We’re rouge. I never thought I’d be rouge. I always kind of assumed after the whole HYDRA in SHIELD thing, I’d be on the non-rouge side, but hey, you learn new things every day. Like the king of Wakanda is a huge cat.”

“Sam.”

“What?”

“Shut up.”

Sam gave Steve a challenging look and folded his arms across his chest, making an exaggerated motion to zip his lips. Soon, Barnes stirred, shifting. He tensed up when he figured out he couldn’t get up or move his left arm. Then, he all but collapsed as far as he could with his arm in the gizmo Steve had found via Loki to hold the guy.

“Bucky?” Steve asked quietly. “Do you know who you are?”

The man trapped in the brace meant for repairing something huge looked up through his straggly hair and stared at Steve. He cleared his throat and said, “Yes. Who did I kill?”

“No one,” Steve quickly said. “So, you know what he did? The doctor, what did he do? You weren’t yourself.”

“Read the trigger words, didn’t he?”

“Trigger words?”

“Shit,” Barnes croaked.

“Do you know who I am?”

The man looked up through his hair again and gave Steve a look that made Steve smile. “You’re Steve.”

Steve folded his massive arms across his massive chest, a small smile on his lips still. He tilted his head to the side and made a motion for more information.

“Fine. Your mother’s name was Sarah and you used to put newspaper in your shoes,” the man rattled off. “And you love apple cake and you never listen to anyone, you punk.”

Steve’s postured loosened and he took a few steps forward.

“The doctor, what did he want?”

“He wanted to know…” Barnes trailed off, looking frustrated as he wracked his swiss cheese mind for something. “Has Loki found Jess?”

“Yes, though he won’t say where she went. What’s Action Plan Seven?”

“North to the future.”

“Okay. She went north. To her future. She heading for the North Pole?” Sam inquired.

“That’s the…slogan for Alaska,” Steve remarked.

“She’s not going to Alaska. She’s heading to a safe country to the north. Action Plan Seven just gives me a direction to go. Somewhere cold. That’s what Action Plan means. Seven is just north.”

“Cold north,” Steve repeated. “Okay. So, why did the doctor trigger you?”

“To escape.”

“He did do that,” Sam remarked, crossing his own arms and studying Barnes. “No one knows where he went. Or at least they didn’t when we went rogue.”

“So, what did he want? The doctor,” Steve clarified, ignoring Sam.

“He wanted to know where the Winter Soldier training base in Siberia is located. It’s the base where they kept me before I was moved to the States in the late nineties,” Barnes explained, blinking excessively. His eyes went unfocused, then he gasped. He went about ten shades of pale. “He wants the others.”

“Others?” Sam asked, hoping Barnes wasn’t saying there were other brainwashed assassins out there.

“Other Winter Soldiers, others like me, but…different. They were…uncontrollable even with the HYDRA mind control triggers. Their brains…weren’t like mine,” Barnes confirmed. “Where is Loki?”

“He’s…waiting somewhere away from here because he doesn’t want anyone to know he’s about,” Steve replied. “Why?”

Barnes leveled Steve a look. “We’re in trouble. The fake doctor’s got a head start. I told him where the base was.”

“You remember that?”

“Kind of. It’s fragmented and foggy after he triggered me. Like I’m watching through a misted window or something. That’s how most of the last seventies years look to me. Like I am watching a movie I can’t control,” Barnes said, sagging. “Do you remember Howard?”

“Yes,” Steve said slowly, tensing up again.

“I killed him to get to the super soldier serum he had developed. He’d bragged it was perfected or something to a HYDRA guy, who he didn’t know was HYDRA likely, but HYDRA found out about it and sent me after it so they could expand the Winter Soldier program,” Barnes admitted, head hanging in defeat. “They wanted an army of us after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.”

Sam glanced at Steve, who was tense but didn’t look surprised. In fact, he looked as if he was doing a lot of hard thinking judging by the deep wrinkle between his eyes.

Sam cursed lowly. “You did at least tell Stark, right? Because…”

Steve looked at Sam sharply. “Of course I didn’t tell him.”

“You’re an idiot,” Barnes grumbled, hanging his head.

“Yes, yes he is a big stupid head!” Sam shouted. “Seriously, man, why didn’t you tell him the Winter Soldier killed his parents?”

“Because…he hates Howard. And it happened so long ago and anytime your bring Howard up, he bites your head off, okay?”

“Fine, but—“

“Don’t try to reason with him,” Barnes sighed. “His head is made out of lead.”

Sam snorted, “True.”

“Shut up, both of you. I’ll tell him…someday,” Steve sheepishly said.

“I’ll freaking tell him,” Barnes snapped. “I thought he was your friend, Steve. That’s why I didn’t come back, you lug head. I killed his parents in cold blood after setting conditions for the car to crash and burn!”

Branes’ head shot up and Sam took a step back at the sight of the fire in those eyes.

“I couldn’t stop, even when he knew who I was. He asked me to save his wife, pleaded with me to save her, to spare her. He was resigned to his own death, seemed to know it was coming. I shot him then strangled her. I couldn’t stop. Then I forgot. I forgot the whole thing shortly after it happened because Jess the Fire Demon knocked Bucky lose.”

Sam frowned but refrained from saying anything. He had a feeling Barnes had never shouted or yelled since he became Sebastian Barnes, nor had he ever talked about what he was saying and it was likely good for the guy to get it off his chest.

As horrible and disgusting as it was.

“But, I remember that I remember doing it,” Barnes said, quieter now and tears in his eyes. He turned his face away from them and stared at the floor again, his hair obscuring his face. “That’s the problem, Stevie. I remember doing it all, even if it’s like looking through a frosted window at times. The guy doing all that stuff? It was me. It was my skills they were using. Just removed my memories and later sent me to the back of the room.”

“Is that how the triggering feels? Like you’re still there, but not in control?” Sam asked.

Barnes nodded. “I’m not sure which is worse: the triggering or memory wipes. Usually, they did both, but after I was transferred to the States when Pierce took control, they just wiped me. But, by that point I was so fried, I don’t think I needed the triggering because I had no idea who or what I was really. Granted, it was likely because they stopped triggering me I was able to remember because Bucky was an annoying nat of a voice in my head.”

Steve looked as if his head was going to explode.

“You had voices in your head?”

Barnes looked up. “She used the Mind Gem on me. I met Jess after HYDRA captured me the first time. She pressed this spear to my chest, it hurt, and I started reciting my number over and over till Steve showed up. I didn’t see her again till after I killed Howard. She touched me again, and suddenly there was this other voice. I think she separated Bucky from the Asset, the thing HYDRA created by removing my memories.”

“Only one voice in there now?”

Barnes nodded, eyes locking on Sam’s. “I go to therapy. Or I went. I’ll have to start over.”

“That’s…” Steve trailed off, looking as if he didn’t know what to do. Sam eyed the lung, as Sam had told him to go to therapy numerous times and while Steve thought it was great for Loki, he himself refused to go except for what was mandatory for him in order to work. Sam didn’t fool himself Steve told the therapist other than what the therapist wanted to hear. He was still walking around with untreated PTSD.

“Good on you, bro,” Sam said when it became clear Steve wasn’t going to say anything. “Now, tell us more about these other Winter Soldiers.”

“They used it on volunteers, had me try to train them. It went…badly. Their brains weren’t like mine, didn’t take the triggering at all when they got out of control,” Barnes groundout. “They froze them all. I don’t think they ever unthawed them as they couldn’t be controlled as I could.”

“Why not? You said their brains weren’t like yours, so what makes you so special?”

Barnes looked up, his cloudy blue eyes locking on Steve’s bright ones. The corner of his mouth twitched up in an ironic smile as he cast his gaze to Sam.

“Red Skull, Johann Schmidt? Jacked up on the similar stuff to Steve. I’m not sure how the two were different, but one was a red monster and one turned into a tall, muscular, super healthy, six-foot tall idiot.”

“And you?” Sam asked before Steve could say anything.

Barnes cast Sam a glance before looking at the ground. “I don’t know. The stuff they jacked me up on is a bastardized version of whatever they gave Steve and Schmidt. It wasn’t created by Erskine, but Zola. Schmidt also didn’t want any other like him, just someone…better than your average human who could take out other humans for him.”

Sam glanced at Steve, who looked as if he might cry at any second. Sam dropped his arms and wondered for a moment if he needed to hug the guy. Barnes looked up and met Steve’s sad eyes with his own.

“You were so quiet. Angry. But, so was everyone else, so I didn’t think…no one talks about that stuff.”

“Yeah, they do,” Sam and Barnes both said.

“But, yeah, not in the field usually, unless it hinders your…performance,” Sam said, feeling crappy for even saying it.

Barnes swallowed loudly. “Stevie, they hollowed me out and sent me hunting. I wasn’t exactly a perfect shot till after Azzano.”

“It was supposed to…” Steve trailed off looking frustrated.

“It amplified everything,” Barnes said. “In you, it made you…brighter. It made you what you needed to be for others to see you as I did, to be able to do what you’d been trying to do your whole life but weren’t able to due to physical limitations.”

Steve looked as if he was about to argue, but Barnes went on.

“In me, it…made me faster, stronger, and more focused. The perfect weapon. That’s all they wanted. Only, I was a fighter. A protector. It amplified those things in me, still does.”

Steve’s mouth dropped open and he mouthed a few words.

“Stevie, in those recruits HYDRA found…the thing Howard made….turned them into monsters. Worse than Red Skull as they…were bloodthirsty and uncontrollable. Red Skull was bonkers, but at least he was somewhat rational. Howard hadn’t made it better, he’d made something else completely.”

Steve swallowed and dropped his arms to his side. They hung loosely next to him. His brain seemed to be ping-ponging all over the place.

“This guy…he’s going after these others?” Sam asked when Steve continued to stand there, mouth opening and shutting soundlessly.

“He must be. They can’t be unleashed on the world,” Barnes said, turning his attention to Sam. The pale blue eyes were almost ghostlike in the dim light of the factory, but Sam met them. “The only reason HYDRA didn’t kill them was they had all the serum in their bloodstreams. Pretty sure they hoped to refine it and get it to work, but then the fall of the Soviet Union didn’t go as exactly as HYDRA had hoped, so…I don’t know what happened with the program as the next time I woke up, I was in America.”

Steve shook his head, looking as if he’d drowned. Again.

“Okay, I’m just going to throw this out there. With the whole Accords, the Avengers are kind of tied. The UN is going to have a ton of red tape for us to work through and they’re not gonna believe Barnes’ intel, especially after his little show just now. While you were out, the Accords were ratified in seventeen countries despite the bombing and your sideshow. So, as Avengers, we’ve got no say so if we go after this scmuck.”

Barnes sunk further into the ground if possible.

“We’re gonna have to go rogue. All out maverick.”

“Sam—”

“Shut up, Steve. We need to get you two to Siberia, to this HYDRA base to stop this cray-cray from unleashing a bunch of super soldier monsters on the world. If the rest of us can go, then all the more fun, but first things first, we need to get a team together and get a plane.”

“Tony—”

“Signed the Accords before he even showed them to us,” Sam snapped. “For a guy who plays with politicians and spent years keeping his armor from the government, he sure jumped in bed fast with them. Also, he’s not an Avenger. He retired. No one was beating down Barton’s door to get him to sign, were they?”

“He’s got a guilt complex the size of Australia,” Steve remarked, ignoring Sam’s remark about Barton.

“Exactly,” Sam said. “They’re already looking for us. Loki can only hold them off for so long. I’ve got a guy who I can call in.”

“I can call Clint, I guess.”

Barnes was wearing a scowl as deep as the ocean when Sam turned back to him. He looked between Steve and Sam, before asking, “What are the Accords exactly?”

“Supposed oversight,” Sam said before Steve could say anything. “While that’s all good and such, it’s also something else, much worse.”

“What?”

“Taking away our rights,” Steve quietly said. “I had an eight-hour flight to read them several times.”

“You should have been sleeping,” Sam muttered.

“Also, in the past when the Avengers have had an oversight committee, things didn’t work out too well. Remember a nuke being fired on New York by the World Council? The worldwide panel in charge of SHIELD?” Steve asked, looking annoyed. “And do you think they’ll stop with just the Accords? They won’t. With all the enhanced humans appearing on the radar thanks to that contagion in fish? Yeah, they’re going to start calling for registration, then they’ll round those people up, and we know what happens when a group labeled as other gets rounded up. History keeps repeating. Nothing has changed.”

“Yeah, I hear you. Hence why I’m not for them,” Sam pointed out.

“They’d require Jess to register, wouldn’t they?” Barnes asked. “If it comes to that, right? At the moment the Accords are just for the Avengers, right?”

Steve turned to Barnes. “Yeah, that’s how they’re playing it to the press, but in the fine print, there’s allowances for confinement and experimentation. Any measure can be used to subdue an enhanced if their enhancement is un-natural. And that’s the wording exactly in the document Tony signed, which at the moment only includes me, Wanda, and Vision. But that…that will someday include people just like Jess, who are about as harmful as a sugar plum.”

Barnes hung his head. “Sweden. She went to Sweden.”

“Why?” Sam asked.

“They are welcoming enhanced humans. It’s also got a similar climate to Alaska. She really misses Alaska. She should never have chased after me.”

Steve walked over and hit the lever to let Barnes out. The machine clanked and Barnes fell to the floor and didn’t bother to get up. Steve knelt down and placed a hand on the guy’s shoulder.

“Love doesn’t always make us do the smartest thing,” Steve said, squeezing the guy’s shoulder.

Barnes looked up and met Steve’s eye. “I’m terrible for her.”

“She doesn’t seem to care.”

“I’ve ruined her life.”

“I doubt she sees it that way.”

“And you two shouldn’t be talking about her like that,” Sam snapped. “She’s a grown ass woman and can make her own decisions.”

Barnes smirked while Steve looked cow-towed.

“Now, let’s get moving,” Sam ordered.

* * *

_Now we see everything that’s going wrong with the world and those who lead it / We just feel like we don’t have the means to rise above and beat it_

_-John Mayer, “Waiting on the World to Change”_

* * *

Scott had landed in Berlin when the phone rang with another unfamiliar number.

“Witton?”

“No. Wilson. Did Witton call you?”

“Yes. She convinced Hank Pym the world is ending and it’s time to bring Stark down. He all but shoved me out the door with all the party tricks”

Wilson snorted. “Sure. Okay. Where are you by chance?”

“Berlin.”

Wilson let out a hoot. “Brilliant. I love her and I’ve only met her once.”

Someone said something in the background to which Wilson replied, “I hate you. So, Lang, any chance you at the airport?”

“Yes.”

“Great. I’m gonna give you some directions. You’re going to go meet Clint Barton.”

“Uh, okay.”

Scott followed the directions to a private airfield where a StarkJet landed. It skidded to a halt and two people all but ran out of it before it suddenly took off again. Scott got out of the white van he’d rented (it was the only large vehicle the rental place had). He eyed the pair. One had a gym bag and something else slung over his shoulder, while the other had nothing with her other than the clothes on her back. As the man got closer, Scott saw he was a bit older, blond, and kind of looked like a shorter James Bond. That had to be Clint Barton. Who was he again?

“You Lang?” he asked.

“Yup,” Scott said and yawned so large his jaw popped.

“You sleep any since you left the States?”

“Not really. I can’t sleep on planes,” Scott admitted, yawning again.

“He iz very tiredly,” the girl said in some sort of accent. “He’z good.”

Scott jerked when he realized the pair had had some sort of discussion with their eyes.

“Why don’t you get into the van and take a nap?” the guy offered. “I know where we’re going, as Rogers called as we landed.”

“Oh. Good. Yeah. Wait, Rogers? Captain America is here?”

The guy opened the back door and pushed Scott into the back. This felt wrong on several levels, but he let himself collapse in the back and zonked out instantly.

* * *

_And you don’t know that you’ve been born / Can’t see the calm before the storm / Can’t tell your right side from your wrong / Can’t see the wave you’re riding on_

_-Coldplay, “The World Turned Upside Down”_


	3. We Dare Defend Our Rights

**Disclaimer: If you know it, I do not own it. If I did, I’d be able to buy more shoes.**

* * *

_Let me tell you what I wish I’d known / When I was young and dreamed of glory / You have no control who lives, who dies, who tells your story_

_-Christopher Jackson & Original Broad Cast of Hamilton, “History Has Its Eyes On You”_

* * *

Clint wasn’t sure what to make of anything, but he was going to hear Steve out. He’d heard Stark out when the jet had picked them up. Clint didn’t say if he agreed or not, but he let Stark know he was on his way. He didn’t bother to mention to Stark he had Wanda with him, as he figured Stark knew that already, having broken her out of the compound while Vision was there. (He hadn’t meant to break her out, but Vision wouldn’t let him see her, so he broke in and saw her. She was less than pleased they were locking her away like Rapunzel.)

Clint pulled the van into the parking spot next to where Steve and Sam were leaning on an old VW Bug. Barnes was leaning against a pillar, looking like a sad trash hobo.

“He’s very stressed.”

“Which one?”

“The hobo,” Wanda said. “He’s scared. Worried. Ashamed.”

Clint grunted, opening his own door and getting out.

“Clint, thanks for coming,” Steve greeted, stepping forward with his hand extended.

“Before you say anything, I talked to Witton. Like a long time before you called,” Clint said, shaking Steve’s hand and feeling a bit odd. They’d fought together for years, shouldn’t they hug or something? Since it felt so bizarre, Clint used the handshake to give Steve a bro hug and slapped him extra hard on the back. Steve looked bewildered as Wilson snorted. “So, you tell me what you think the Accords are, and I’ll figure out where I stand. Because guess what? I’m not an Avenger or enhanced in any manner, so the Accords don’t matter to me either way.”

Steve frowned, jaw working but his mouth not opening.

“Why’d you come?” sad trash hobo asked from his hiding spot in the shadows.

“Witton said something else is going on, due to the bombing in Vienna being pegged on Barnes, who was busy making cookie dough when it happened. I’m here because of that, not the Accords.”

“Didn’t call you because of the Accords. Called you because I need help getting to Siberia,” Steve said.

Clint shuddered. “Why on Earth are you going there?”

“Not here,” Steve said, eyes shooting left and right.

“Fine.”

“You get Lang?” Sam asked.

“Yup. Gotta pump him full of coffee, but he’s here. Confused, but here.”

“He doesn’t understand what is going on,” Wanda said quietly. “Then again, none of us do, do we?”

“I know what’s going on,” Steve proclaimed.

“Do you?” sad trash hobo muttered.

“Bucky,” Steve said in a tired voice. He eyed Clint and Wanda. “So, you with us?”

“Is it going to send me to jail?”

“Probably.”

“Then, no. I’m not with you, but I’m going to go with you to where ever you’re going to try to stop you from doing something stupid.”

Steve swelled up like he was going to say something epic but Bucky Barnes the Sad Trash Hobo cut him off by saying, “Thank the Lord. Glad to know there someone else to stop him from doing something stupid. It was hard when it was only me.”

Wanda chuckled.

“Wanda?” Steve asked.

“I am…weary,” Wanda admitted. “I’ve tried to read the Accords, but they are in English and I was unable to get them translated completely, but what I read and what the computer was able to summarize for me, these Accords only apply to the Avengers for the time being. If I am no longer an Avenger, they do not bother me right now.”

“Where will you go?”

“I do not know, but the United States is not somewhere I am welcome.”

Steve looked like he was going to shout, cry, and stomp his feet.

“There are a butt load of Winter Soldiers in frozen sleep that this crackpot is going to let out,” Sam casually mentioned while studying his nails. Steve glared at Sam, but Sam shrugged. “That’s why we called you. We’d have taken this to Stark to deal with the red tape, but there wasn’t time.”

Sam didn’t appear as if he truly believed this, Steve looked exhausted, and Barnes was a sad trash hobo who’d had his trash taken away. Clint glanced at Wanda, getting the feeling she wanted to help Steve simply because he was Steve. He’d given her and her brother a chance when all they’d done is hurt him and had taken her into the Avengers after she epically messed up after her brother died (Steve likely could feel her there, so yeah).

She was going into this fight.

Damn.

“Fine. Let’s wake up Lang. You gotta tell him what he’s getting himself into.”

Clint opened the back of the van and nudged the sleeping Lang.

“We there?” he sleepily asked.

“Yup. Time to meet Captain America,” Clint said, glancing over his shoulder at Steve, who squared his shoulders and stood up taller. Barnes the Sad Trash Hobo snorted unattractively and Sam gave Barnes a smirked and quirked an eyebrow. Barnes made an epic sort of face with a huge eye roll and slowly mouthed, “STUPID PUNK.”

Sam snorted.

Steve’s shoulder’s slumped and he turned around to glare at the pair.

“I missed something, didn’t I?” Lang asked and stumbled out of the van, rubbing his eyes. He took a moment to orient himself, then blinked a few times before rubbing his eyes again.

“Oh, you were serious, I didn’t really think…oh, wow,” Lang said, rushing at Steve with his hand out to shake. Steve shook it and graciously thanked him for his help. “Oh, yeah, sure. Uh, what are we doing?”

“There’s a crackpot who’s going to let loose a much of bloodthirsty super soldiers,” Sam answered. “Hey ya, tic-tac.”

“Oh, hi. Yeah. Hello. Look, last time—”

“There was no last time,” Sam said, cocking his head and looking dangerous. “That never happened.”

“Sure, okay. Uh, so, vampires— oh, hey! I know you!” Lang said, his eyes falling on Wanda, who tensed up. “Love your work. You’re awesome. Sorry, I didn’t realize who you were before. I needed a nap. But, you’re awesome.”

Wanda gaped at Lang for a second before Lang turned back to Captain America. Clint clapped her on the shoulder, giving her a small nod.

“So, what are we exactly doing to stop the vampires soldiers? Breaking and entering? Not really my thing anymore. Kind of want to stay above the law. Or whatever.”

“We’re going to steal a jet.”

Lang hung his head. “Of course you are. But, vampires. Gotta deal with the vamps.”

Barnes snorted. “If only they were vampires.”

“Yeah, Sad Trash Hobo, if only,” Scott sighed.

Clint and Wanda both snorted. Steve looked insulted, but Barnes let out a bark of a laugh.

Lang rubbed his hands together, looking between Steve and Wilson while Barnes the Sad Trash Hobo finally pulled his hair out of his pretty face and tied it back. “So, stealing a jet. Haven’t stolen a jet, but I’ve got ideas.”

“You know they’ll be there,” Clint said as he noticed Loki appear out of nowhere next to Barnes. Barnes didn’t even notice until Loki stepped passed him. He leaped like ten feet into the air, landing rather noiselessly. The only noise came from the plate in his arms shifting as Loki came to stand next to Steve.

“They’re already there,” Loki proclaimed, making Sam, Lang, and Steve jerk in surprise.

Lang stared at the guy, as Loki made a strange sight to someone who’d never seen him before. Or recently, as he had blue hands and bright red eyes. His hair was some sort of annoying shade of blonde that looked all kinds of wrong.

“They assume you’re going to go after the jet they used to get here as Quinjets are faster than normal jets.”

“Hi. I’m Scott,” Lang announced, holding his hand out. Loki glanced at it a moment before taking Lang’s hand. “Oh, wow. You’re one of those…enhanced ones, right? What can you do?”

“I freeze things,” Loki said, looking like a confused deer.

“Awesome!”

Everyone stared at Lang with varying bemused expressions except Sam who appeared smug as hell.

Lang rubbed his hands together after he was done shaking Loki’s hand, looking amazed about something.

“So, the vampires soldiers from hell require stealing a jet that is currently under guard from Stark and company?”

“Correct,” Loki said. “We will not all be able to go.”

As the others all began to plan their attack (For a brilliant tactician, Steve’s plans sometimes sounded really stupid. This one was just run at Team Stark and fight your way to the jet, which according to Barnes was a normal Steve plan that never went right), Clint planned. He knew he was playing a dangerous game, balancing on both sides. That was something Natasha usually did, but this time it seemed Natasha had decided on a side and was going for it. (Not that he expected she was really on that side, as she was Natasha and she always played all sides until she had all the information and she was likely still gathering information.)

“Alright. Gear up,” Steve proclaimed.

Wanda worried her bottom lip. Clint clapped her on the shoulder. “If you follow me, we’ll get out of here.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Just gotta make Steve see how pig headed he is being,” Clint muttered. “And show Stark he needs to read the fine print.”

* * *

_Sometimes it feels like I’ve got a war in my mind / I want to get off but I keep riding the ride / I never really noticed that I had to decide / To play someone’s game or live my own life_

_-Lana Del Ray, “Get Free”_

* * *

Tony didn’t want to do this. Hell, he didn’t want to be here, didn’t want to deal with this crap, and he sure as hell didn’t think that saying he agreed with the Accords and signing them would cause this much…strife.

Then again, he should have known Mr. Perfect would have an issue with being told what to do. Weren’t soldiers supposed to march to orders? Wasn’t Steve supposed to be the perfect soldier? Actually, if Tony looked at his records, Steve sucked at being a soldier and should have been court marshaled after he went off to save Bucky.

Stupid Bucky.

“I don’t like this,” Natasha said, coming to stand next to Tony.

“You think I do?”

Natasha glanced at him. “Did you read the Accords?”

“My lawyers did.”

“They point out anything?”

“No. They said it was fine if I wanted to sign them.”

“You’re not an Avenger. You made that clear.”

“I outfit you guys, so I am part of the program.”

“Okay. Did you read the part about how if an enhanced acts out, the government can imprison them without trial and violate their human rights?”

“What?” Tony squawked, turning to look at her.

“They’re coming,” Rhodey’s voice said over their comms. “There’s a lot of them. More than there are of us. They’ve got…Hawkeye, Scarlett Witch, the Winter Soldier, Falcon, some guy I don’t know in an odd looking armor, L—oh, uh, Agent Hiddleston.”

“And we’ve got two idiots in suits, me, and a teenager,” Natasha muttered, grinding her teeth together.

No one was pleased Tony had flown to New York and picked up Spider Kid. Tony had fibbed a bit about his age, but he was pretty sure he’d only fooled Rhodey, who was in his Tired of This Crap mode and likely wasn’t listening.

“And you forgot the King of Wakanda,” Tony reminded her. That was the team member Natasha had added, who had gone over better than Spider Kid. “Though, he’s only after Bucky’s head on a plate.”

“Mr. Stark, I’m in place,” came Peter’s voice.

“Good. Stay out of sight. Just web things up,” Tony said, before turning to face Natasha. “They brought it on themselves by not working with us.”

“Did you make it easy for them to work with us? No. Tony, I’m all for having oversight and transparency in what we do, but the reason SHIELD worked because it was a secret. Agents could make their own calls and defend them. The World Council made the big decisions, made the big choices and we carried them out, but if there needed to be something done quickly, it could be done without talking to the stiffs.”

“Ross—”

“Has his own agenda. Having Ross in charge is like having Pierce in charge.”

“He was in charge of SHIELD.”

“He was one of the people in charge. There was always more than one director,” Natasha pointed out. “The way Ross is handling everything, he’s the only one in charge and we cannot trust him.”

“I know! I can’t have this discussion right now!”

Tony took off, circled, watching Natasha make her way down to the tarmac. She walked alone towards the oncoming group of misfits.

“Wanna join her?” Rhodey asked. “Make that dramatic entrance?”

“Sure. Let’s do this,” Tony tiredly said, angling himself towards the ground. As he landed, he realized he was joined by not just Rhodey, but Vision. Where had he come from? Or, well, Tony knew where he had come from, but no one had called him as far as Tony knew.

“Barnes is mine,” came T’Challa’s voice as he joined them from out of nowhere.

“Sure. Whatever,” Tony grumbled. He put the faceplate up and said to the approaching group, “We don’t have to do this. If you just come quietly—”

“What did we do wrong?” Barton called out.

While everyone else looked to be armed and ready for battle (other than Loki who was standing there but he was always armed because he had ice powers of destruction), Barton didn’t have his bow drawn or even out as far as Tony could see. He and Wanda were standing to the right of the line of people, neither looking as if they were there to fight their way to the jet they wanted to steal to…save Barnes?

Tony wasn’t too clear on why Ross thought they wanted to jet, but they’d have to leave the country or something, so— wait. Nothing made sense. Stealing a Quinjet was kind of a high profile. And they had Loki, so they could literally steal anything and Barton likely knew how to fly it. Then again, nothing was faster than his Quinjet.

Where did they need to go quickly?

Or maybe they wanted it for the stealth cloak? So they could all vanish like Bruce?

“Well, three of you are criminals—”

“Actually, only one is technically a criminal, but he did his time. The three you mentioned, aren’t really criminals. You cleared two of chargers and the other is actually more of a POW.”

“Barton—” Tony started, but Natasha threw her arm out and gave him a look.

“I’ve had my mind controlled before and luckily I don’t remember much, but all was forgiven for me, so why not Barnes?” Barton asked. “I mean, I know you all think he blew up the conference—”

“He was caught on camera,” T’Challa coldly pointed out.

Wanda laughed without emotion. “Would the Winter Soldier be caught on camera after doing something as crude as bombing a building? I believe he would not. Stealth was his game.”

“Maybe he wanted people to see him,” Tony suggested.

“I wasn’t even there,” Barnes said, sounding utterly done and exhausted. “I was at home making cookies.”

Tony snorted. “Sure. A guy like you makes cookies.”

“He does,” FRIDAY proclaimed. Tony flipped his visor down and it was popping up with the information the CIA had on the guy. Much of it showed him selling baked goods at some kind of market. He had all sorts of treats: cookies, cupcakes, things Tony wasn’t sure what they were but looked mouth watering. He’d been doing it for months.

“He loves to bake,” Barton said. “Okay, so we’ve got a guy suspected of bombing a building who is a POW.”

“He also tore up the UN headquarters and injured—” Tony started as he flipped the visor up again.

“While he was brainwashed,” Barton insisted. “Oh, wait, you didn’t bother to figure out why he went apeshit, did you? Where did the doctor you sent to question him go? Were you trying to get him the mental help he needs? That he was already getting, which I know for a fact the CIA already knew he was getting, which was why their agents suggested leaving him be. He hadn’t done anything violent or murderous since they’d tracked him down in Romania, so they chose to leave him alone. And he knew they were watching and he was fine with that. Ever wonder why a certain someone is willing to help Steve? It’s not because she’s got a crush on him, but she knows Barnes is innocent and knows the corruption in the government is preventing justice, so she had to use other avenues.”

“Barton, seriously, where are you—“

Barton stepped forward and threw down a huge copy of the Accords. The thing sat between to two fronts, blowing open in the wind. Barton stood in front of everyone, looking as if he was simply teaching a class on politics or something.

“Witton seems to think these were more than they seemed. That’s the copy Steve read, with all his notes.” Barton’s eyes darted to Natasha before looking back at Tony. “What you really should read is on page 394. And yeah, it’s 669 pages long.”

Rhodey snorted. “Sorry. Fighter pilot in me.”

Tony rolled his eyes. He remembered pilot training.

“FRIDAY, what’s on page 394?”

“Shall I read it for you, Boss, or show you?”

“You’re gonna wanna read it,” Barton said. “And read it on that, please. It’ll make more sense.”

Tony was about to go get the file, but Natasha darted out. She instantly opened up to 394, her eyes scanning as she made her way back. T’Challa cocked his cat head to the side, taking a step closer to the others and away from them.

“It’s what I told you about, only Steve has suggestions.”

Tony snatched it away and read what Steve had written. Steve had basically rewritten the section, which was good as it was horrible. How had that gotten passed his lawyers?

Oh, wait, it didn’t apply to him because he was fully human.

Tony cursed loudly and colorfully.

“They need work, Iron Man,” Steve said in his Captain America voice.

“Yeah, okay, well, there’s not much I can do about that right now, okay?”

He kind of wished he had somewhere to put Steve’s copy of the Accords so he could look at them after they’d solved their current issue, which was Barnes roaming free.

“Now, here’s our problem: Barnes is wanted for a crime. You are all hindering his arrest.”

“I was arrested. Then I wasn’t given a lawyer when I asked. Or offered any kind of legal representation or anything other than being forced into a torture device and left in a room with a man who read out the triggers for the Winter Soldier,” Barnes proclaimed in a scratchy sounding voice.

Natasha gasped. Very softly, but loudly enough for Tony to hear as she stood next to him.

“And I’d be more than happy to go into custody if you’ll just listen to me. For ten minutes.”

“Bucky, no,” Steve said turning sharply towards Barnes.

“Bucky, yes,” Barnes said, glaring at Steve in a manner Tony had never seen anyone look at Steve before, let alone Steve when he was dressed as Captain America.

“You have eleven,” Natasha said, stepping forward and putting a hand out towards T’Challa. Who seriously looked like a panther ready to pounce and gouge Barnes’ eyes out.

Barnes took a deep breath and dropped a huge bomb, “There’s six other Winter Soldiers hidden at a base in Siberia, coordinates 70.131965, 103.359375. They are nothing like me, but out of control, violent—”

“Vampires!” the guy in the funny looking armor shouted.

Barnes glanced at the other guy before looking back at Tony. “Vampires. Yeah, they’re vampires.”

“They seriously drink blood? Are scared of the sun? Do they sparkle?”

“Stark!” Natasha and Rhodey snapped.

Steve tried to move forward, but Barnes pushed him in the middle of his chest backward.

“They don’t need blood to live, but they lust for it. They’re out of control. HYDRA couldn’t get the triggering to work on them, so because they were chock full of the serum Howard developed—”

“Wait, back up,” Tony started, but Barton shouted, “NOT NOW BARNES!”

Barnes startled, looking at Barton as if he wasn’t sure how the smaller man had gotten so loud.

“Yeah, he needs to know, but don’t we have more pressing matters?” Clint said, reading something in Barnes’ expression.

“OH MY GOD!” Tony shouted.

Rage suddenly flooded through him and he looked at Steve.

“YOU KNEW!”

“TONY!” Natasha shouted.

“HE KILLED MY PARENTS! I THOUGHT FOR YEARS THEY DIED IN AN ACCIDENT! THAT DAD WAS DRUNK!”

“YOU ARE FORTY-TWO YEARS OLD! YOU’VE BEEN ALIVE LONGER THAN YOU KNEW THEM!” Natasha screamed right back. Tony was so shocked he dumbly stared at her, all his previous injustice forgotten. “You can beat up Steve later for not telling you, then you can try to beat me up, but did you just hear what Barnes said? There are six super-soldiers going to be let loose and they are not nice like Steve and they’re not…a sad trash hobo like Barnes.”

“What the hell? Why do you all keep telling me I look like a trash hobo? I changed my clothes and brushed my hair! Look! I’ll even get it out of my face!”

“Focus,” T’Challa’s voice cut across the tarmac, while Barnes sloppily put his hair into a bun of some sort. “I have plotted those points you gave. There is nothing there except snow.”

“It’s built into a mountain,” Barnes said. “I think. I don’t know. I mostly remember the inside. I was never anywhere with a window and I entered through a door that was set back in the rock.”

“Your Majesty?” Natasha asked quietly.

“You found him for me, thank you,” he said quietly. He turned his attention to Barnes, holding himself up taller than he’d been when speaking to Natasha. “You say you didn’t kill my father, then why did you run?”

Barnes flapped his arms at his side for a second, before shrugging. “I don’t know. Because I saw my face on the TV at the market and suddenly everyone was scared of me, even though they’ve known me for six months, and then I come home and Jess is gone and Steve is standing there in all his stupid Captain America glory, then these guys in black swoop in and destroy my home, then this guy I don’t even know in a catsuit shows up and tries to claw my eyes out with claws that smell like Steve’s shield. Would you just stand there or would you run like hell?”

“Cookie dough,” Clint coughed.

“My poor cookie dough,” Barnes lamented, frowning.

“They’re turned into a comedy pair,” Rhodey muttered.

“Mr. Stark?”

“Shut up, Spider-Kid,” Tony snapped. “Fine! Okay. So, if we say we’ll go check this out within an hour—”

“No. You gotta go now,” Barnes and Steve said together.

“Yeah, you see, the evil fake doctor has had a head start of about twelve hours,” Barton said. “So, you gotta go now. You can’t ask for permission. You see the problem?”

“I am on the council. I will iron it out,” T’Challa said. “Barnes remains here.”

“I’ll go quietly as long as you go get this guy.”

Tony looked between the ones gathered, then looked at Natasha. She nodded. Tony swallowed.

“Only those who signed the Accords can come.”

“Fine.”

Steve threw his shield on the ground, along with his helmet. He kicked both away. Falcon removed his wings and guns and set them next to the shield. Wanda took several steps backward, while the strange armor guy did the same.

“What?” he asked. “These are mine. I’m not letting you have my stuff. I was never an Avenger. Still not.”

Tony looked at Barton.

“I’m retired, man. These are my arrows. And my bow. For fun.”

Tony eyed them and realized the arrows and bow weren’t his design so he couldn’t claim they were Avenger’s tech, not like the wings and shield.

“I can’t take my arm off,” Barnes said. “That’s the only weapon I have.”

Steve looked at him with an expression Tony had seen thrown at him on numerous occasions. Sam choked and Loki snorted so loudly Tony wasn’t even sure it was an actual snort.

Five minutes later on top of the shield and wings was a pile of knives and guns that would make the best assassin proud. Natasha even looked mildly impressed.

Wanda had nothing to fork over if she was out, nor did Loki. And Loki had never been an Avenger, he was an Agent of SHIELD. For now, as it was likely if things went the way everyone feared, he’d wind up in the wind.

“Where are you going to go Wanda?” Vision inquired quietly.

“I’ve been invited to stay in Sweden,” she said, floating backward, even though her feet were definitely on the ground.

“You’re just going to… you all are just going to give this up?” Tony asked.

“I’m tired, Tony. And if you believe the intel and are going to go do something about it, fine by me,” Steve said, dropping the Cap voice and sounding exhausted.

Tony looked at the discarded shield then back at Steve. “But…this is who you are.”

Steve gave Tony a sad, tired look. “Yeah, that’s what everyone thinks. But, it’s not.”

He turned his back on Tony, clapping Barnes on the shoulder and saying something lowly to him. Barnes swallowed, looked at T’Challa, but nodded and said something. Steve looked as if he really didn’t want to leave Barnes with them, but he grabbed Loki’s blue hand and the pair walked off, followed by Strange Armor Guy, Wanda, and Wilson. Only Clint and Barnes remained.

“I thought you weren’t signing,” Tony said, eyeing Barton. “You stay behind to make sure we follow through?”

“I’m not signing anything. And I’m at an airport. I’m sure after you leave, it’ll start back up again and I’m going home.”

“Seriously?”

“What?” Barton asked, shrugging and looking at Tony with huge eyes. “I had a camping trip with the family planned. I’m sure we can still go since it’s spring break.”

“Barnes,” T’Challa snapped.

Barnes stared at the guy for a beat before walking forward, his hand raised. He stopped about five feet from T’Challa, who took a step forward and removed his helmet. The pair had a stare off before T’Challa said, “What type of cookie were you making?”

“Monster cookies,” Barnes answered without waiting. “Only I used almond butter in them instead of peanut butter because people have peanut allergies and I think almond butter is better. Modern peanut butter is weird.”

“Will you remain in custody this time?”

“I would have last time,” Barnes pointed out. “I know when to give up. I’ve got practice in giving up.”

Natasha made a strange noise. Barnes glanced at her and said softly in Russian, “It’s the only way they could have won.”

“They didn’t,” Natasha said in English. “You’re here.”

“Am I?”

“Yes.”

“You knew?”

“Of course I did,” Natasha replied.

“And you didn’t tell Steve?”

“You were free,” she whispered, looking almost jealous.

Barnes smiled, like full out smile, burn down your house with its brilliance and whoa, no wonder ladies loved the guy like Cap said. He could almost give Nicholls a run for the money.

Wait. Where was his shadow? He hadn’t seen him in hours.

“I was,” Barnes whispered.

“Lower your hands in front of you,” T’Challa requested quietly. “I’m putting you into custody under—”

Tony tuned out the legal mumbo-jumbo, mostly because the way the current law was written, Barnes had no rights. Even if they wanted to give them to him, they couldn’t.

After T’Challa took Barnes off, Tony looked at Natasha. “I’m calling Ross, telling him we’re going after them. It’s the only way he’ll let us go.”

“What do you mean? He got Barnes.”

“Rogers and his merry band of misfits are in the wind.”

“He’s right,” Vision said. “We’ve been given permission to go from the UN via T’Challa, but Ross will prevent us from doing anything without solid proof and all we have are Barnes’ words.”

“They make sense,” Barton said, reminding them all he was still there.

“Clint,” Natasha started.

“You guys get a move on it,” Barton said. “First, once you clear out, they’ll open the airport. Second, you need to stop the villain of the story. Barnes isn’t the villain, I’m not the villain, and neither is Steve and his merry band of misfits. So, Avengers, go avenge something.”

“I will fly ahead,” Vision stated. “If that is allowed.”

“Yeah, go. I’ll call Ross in flight. Let’s go…get the bad guy! Except for Spider-Boy. You go back to the jet we came one.”

“But, Mr Stark, I can help!” Peter shouted over the coms, swinging down on his webs and landing in front of him.

“I told your aunt that you’d be doing science with me in a safe location!”

“Tony Stark, why is there a teenager here!” Clint shouted in his Dad Voice.

“So, you’re gonna get on the jet, a pilot and crew are going to show up and fly you back to the Tower. You’ll go in there and FRIDAY will show you a lab you can chill in before you go home so you can science.”

“But, Mr Stark—”

“Nope. That’s final. Go,” Tony ordered, feeling the weight of leadership fall on his shoulders. He didn’t want to lead this group, but for some reason he was.

Peter waited a moment before hanging his head and sighing. “That wasn’t much of a battle.”

“Nope.”

“Can I be an Avenger?”

“You wanna sign the Accords and have your aunt know what you get up to at night?”

Peter put both hands up and insisted no, he did not. He webbed out, hopefully going to the jet that was sitting on a nearby runway.

Tony stomped forward and picked up the wings. Natasha came up next to him and picked up the shield, holding it both her hands. Tony picked the helmet up with the other hand and looked in the direction Steve had left with his merry band of misfits. “I feel like I just killed Captain America. Is this how my dad felt?”

“Your dad had nothing to do with Steve’s choice to be on that plane,” Natasha murmured. “And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. It’s just…so much was going on. I also thought Steve would tell you, but that was stupid.”

Indignation welled up. Tony crushed the helmet under his hand, the gantlet aiding in crushing the kevlar thing. He let the pieces fall to the ground. Natasha bent down and picked up the holster Steve had kindly left behind. She put it on her back while Rhodey and Tony silently watched her. She threw the shield onto her back and marched away. Tony looked back at the pile of ammo.

“I’ll clean the ammo up. Got somewhere I can put it?” Barton asked.

“Urg,” Tony grumbled. “Pick up what you can and take it to the jet. Rhodey and I will get the rest.”

Barton nodded, grabbing up as many weapons as he could carry. He set off in the direction Natasha had gone.

“Why do you think he didn’t tell me?” Tony asked Rhodey as they both put their helmets back on and picked up the rest of the pile.

“Honestly? Probably because he couldn’t face the fact his best friend had murdered Howard,” Rhodey said. “Think about it? He likely read everything about the crash after he woke up. Howard had turned from the guy he’d known into a drunk who was mean to his own kid. He likely figured that out by just meeting you.”

Tony ground his teeth together as he took off. He flew silently to the jet and dumped the weapons into a corner. He started shedding his armor as he walked further into the jet. Rhodey followed. They’d have a minute or two to wait for Natasha and Barton to show up on foot.

“I’m not saying he was in the right, but Nat’s correct. After he originally found out, a lot of shit happened. And how do you broach that subject? Hey, Tony, I know we’re hardly friends, but your dad wasn’t killed due to his drunk driving, but in fact, my best friend was sent to murder him by HYDRA! And probably your mom too!”

Tony scrubbed a hand over his face and sat down in the pilot seat. “Can you call Ross? I can’t…”

“Yeah. I will.”

Rhodey sat down in the co-pilot seat as Natasha stomped into the back, followed by Barton. Barton dumped his pile of weapons, saluted them, and exited. Natasha closed the hatch. Tony ignored her as Rhodey informed Ross the others had gotten away and they were now in pursuit. Tony went through pre-flight checks, then taxied out. He saw Barton sitting on top of a truck as they pulled out. Barton waved. Tony did not wave back.

“Ross pissed because CCTV went down all over the airport during our confrontation. Not that there was anyone other than us to watch, but looks like Loki did his hack the CCTV, so Ross doesn’t know we just let them walk off, so he’s more than willing to let us go chase them.”

“Loki can hack CCTV while he walks,” Natasha grumbled.

Rhodey and Natasha fell silent. Tony brooded and stewed for about two hours before he finally cracked.

“How does it feel?”

He turned around in his chair and looked at Natasha.

“You were brainwashed by the Red Room, weren’t you?”

Natasha gave him a cold look but nodded.

“Tony,” Rhodey started, but Tony held up his hand in his face.

“No. Seriously. How does it feel to be brainwashed? Are you really not in control?”

“I believe my brainwashing was different from Barnes,” Natasha said in a detached voice he usually only heard when she was working. “I was indoctrinated from childhood with what they wanted me to believe. I thought I was working towards being a great asset for Mother Russia. I had memories imprinted that I was training to be a ballet dancer, not training in killing others. I had no concept of parents, only Madam B. I did not have a childhood and knew nothing other than what the Red Room allowed me to know. The memories of ballet dancing? They came into play when I was sent on missions when I was a teenager. I thought I was performing in a theater before hundreds of comrades, but in fact, I was alone and murdering people.”

Tony wished he hadn’t asked.

“It wasn’t until later when the program fell apart and I was the last one standing did I realize I was not a dancer but a killer. I saw the blood dripping from my hands and none of the dances I knew actually existed in the world,” Natasha said. “It was…”

The only nose was the jet engines.

“And the memories fell apart and the real ones took hold,” Natasha quietly said over the roar in Tony’s ears, “but only after months of deprogramming. And only after Clint had brought me in.”

“SHEILD deprogrammed you?”

Natasha nodded.

“But…”

“I was on my own for years after the collapse of the Red Room,” Natasha answered. “A contract killer. I was too good, so I got noticed by SHEILD. The only reason I didn’t try to kill Clint was he didn’t bother trying to trigger me like others who’d been sent after I tried. I’m sure he knew exactly what to say to trigger the Red Room training, but he didn’t. He just tried his hardest to talk me into going to SHEILD.”

“Why?” Rhodey asked. “Just…why would he…”

“He’d read the files on Dottie Underwood,” Natasha replied. “Fury had made sure Clint had them, so I’m pretty sure Fury wanted me brought in alive as well.”

“Who?” Rhodey asked.

Natasha glanced at Tony.

“She was…a Russian spy Aunt Peggy dealt with. She was obsessed with Peggy.”

“She was a legend,” Natasha whispered. “Only we all thought she’d been a great Russian dancer.”

“Dottie doesn’t sound much like a Russian name.”

“Dottie wasn’t her actual name,” Tony pointed out.

“No. We knew her as Dominika Petrov,” Natasha quietly said, looking far away. “So, I don’t know what to tell you how it feels to be brainwashed, because when I was, I thought I was dancing. And what I remember from my childhood? I don’t even know if that’s real or not, because the mind of a child is so malleable.”

Rhodey shuddered. Tony felt sick.

* * *

_If I were Superman then we’d fly away / I’d really like to change the world and save it from the mess it’s in_

_-The Kinks, “(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman”_

* * *

“There was no fighting to be had,” Clint proclaimed when Witton picked up. “I should get a medal.”

“I’ll make you one,” Witton laughed, then threw up.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I don’t know,” Witton muttered. “I’ve got this flu bug that won’t leave. So, besides no fighting, what happened?”

“They arrested Sebastian. He went willingly, and I kind of think T’Challa will see the light, as he seemed to get over his rage against Bucky campaign when he heard about cookies.”

“Oh god, my mouth is watering just thinking about cookies.”

“Didn’t you just throw up?”

“But I’m so hungry,” Witton moaned. “God, what the hell is wrong with me?”

Clint was kind of sure he knew what was wrong with Witton but didn’t want to break it to her over the phone if she hadn’t figured it out.

“Steve gave up his shield and walked off into the sunset with Loki. And Wanda is heading for you.”

“Oh, good! I mean, it sucks she has to leave where she’s lived the last year, but I hate living alone and if…well, Seb will…they’ll let him go, don’t you think?”

“Eventually,” Clint sighed. “You knew he might not come back, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. But it still…sucks.”

The waterworks started and Clint felt his heart go out to the girl.

He was sitting in the airport, which was slowly starting to fill with people now that it’d reopened. Clint was literally the first person through after they reopened. As he waited for Witton to stop crying (which might be never if experience had taught him anything), a shadow fell over him. He slowly tensed and looked up. Loki was standing over him.

“I thought you’d ran off with your boy?”

“I must return to SHEILD,” Loki replied. “So I sent him, Wanda, and Samuel on their way. After the current issue is solved, I will return to him.”

“They going to Witton?”

“Steven needs a vacation. Sweden seems nice.”

“You offering me a ride home?”

“Yes.”

“Awesome!” Clint shouted, vaulting to his feet. “Can you refund my money for the ticket I just bought?”

Loki gave him a tried look, which likely meant no.

“Whatever. Private planes better than commercial.”

“Who is crying on your phone? Did you make Laura cry?”

“No. It’s Witton.”

Loki’s face went from teasing to thunderous. Clint put his hand over the speaker and whispered, “I think she’s pregnant but she doesn’t know it yet. Anything will make her cry. Like having to tell her Barnes went to jail and likely won’t be out for a while even though he didn’t do it and Stark and party are after the right guy.”

Loki’s face went through a series of complicated expressions before so he took the phone from Clint.

“Jessica? Yes. I’m fine. They’re on their way. Yes, I know it’s horrible they’re jailing an innocent man, but as Clint no doubt told you, Stark is on his way to get the real bad guy.”

Loki was quiet for a moment and the noise of crying stopped. Loki made a disgusted face and looked like he was about to puke himself. Clint snorted. He heard a wail. He quirked an eyebrow. Loki nodded his agreement.

“Jessica—”

She began talking again.

“Scott is on his way home. I bought him a ticket out of Paris. No, he did not get to take down Stark, so Mr. Pym will likely be quite angry with you.”

Clint snorted.

“Jessica, when was—”

Loki took the phone away from his ear and stared at it in confusion. He looked up at Clint. Clint really wished he could see the guy’s eyes, but since they were in public, Loki was all covered up.

“She hung up on me.”

“Probably because she was going to go throw up some more,” Clint suggested.

“She was in the bathroom already. You really think she’s…”

“Could be. Or it’s one odd bug she’s got.”

“Something else could be wrong with her. There are quite a few things that present themselves as pregnancy.”

“True. But she’s been puking for the past week and other than that nothing seems to be wrong with her. And she’s weepy. And intense when she’s not weepy. And did she really get Lang here by convincing Hank Pym he’d have a chance to take out Stark?”

Loki sighed loudly, motioning for Clint to stand. “Yes. She did. Pym has a notorious dislike for all things Stark, thanks to knowing Howard Stark back in SHEILD’s hay day.”

Clint chuckled, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he followed Loki out of the airport. “Know how to make themselves enemies, huh?”

“Yes.”

“Did you know?”

“Know what?”

“That the death of Howard Stark was a hit?”

“No. Then again, I wasn’t exactly listening when Steven returned.”

“Seems a lot of that going around.”

* * *

_If we lay a strong enough foundation / We’ll pass it on to you, we’ll give the world to you / And you’ll blow us all away_

_-Lin-Manuel Miranda & Leslie Odem Jr, “Dear Theodosia” _


End file.
